Press Releas

Thursday 24 October, 2013

‘Taste Summit’ Brings Top Talent to Talk Food and Future

New Zealand’s greatest foodie festival Taste of Auckland has added an important industry event to its schedule this year, with the creation of The Taste Summit proudly supported by Silver Fern Farms.

Billed as ‘a forum for chefs to share experiences in the world of food and our place in it’, the Taste Summit is expected to bring insightful and perhaps fiery debate about sustainability, food and the future of the restaurant industry.

“Taste is a vibrant food festival that is about great flavours, but we’re also committed to learning and exchanging interesting ideas about food,” says Taste of Auckland director Rob Eliott.

“This forum is an important opportunity to get the industry together and share knowledge that can benefit the greater restaurant community,” he says.

The forum features contributions from a panel rich in international experience and willing to serve up a challenging feast of ideas. Panelists will provide lessons gleaned from their experiences in Europe, Australia and here in New Zealand.

Speakers include chef and businessman Mark Gregory, who was the first New Zealander to be honoured with the French Meilleur Ouvrier (Master of Culinary Arts). Mark is a restaurant judge and will share lessons from judging the world’s 50 best restaurants.

Kay Baxter is co-founder of the Kaonga Institute, which aims to protect, develop and sharing knowledge about New Zealand’s heritage food plants. Kay is committed to creating sustainable systems that integrate the needs of society with the laws of nature.

Matt Stone is one of Australia’s youngest culinary stars and is Executive Chef of the Perth restaurant Greenhouse by Joost. Committed to fresh, sustainable, locally sourced produce, Matt has helped put Greenhouse at the forefront of Perth’s dining culture and the restaurant has won many accolades.

Hailing from Manchester, Mark Southon is Executive Chef at The Foodstore and worked in Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe before coming to live in New Zealand. Mark won Most Outstanding Chef at this year’s Lewisham Awards and will be reporting back from his trip to Spain with Simon Gault where they visited elBulli and the current number one restaurant in the world El Celler de Can Roca.

“This is a lineup of exceptional talent and will be a fascinating forum,” says Eliott.

“We expect this will become an essential event on the food industry calendar,” he said.

The Summit begins at 12:30pm on Sunday 17 November and will be held in the Carlton Hospitality Marquee. Tickets cost $50 to this trade event, or $30 for Restaurant Association members, are in limited supply and to industry people only. Taste Summit tickets include entry to the Taste of Auckland festival. They can be ordered online at www.iticket.co.nz

For more details check out www.tasteofauckland.co.nz

ENDS

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