We recently announced the line up for Chow Town Melbourne, and now…drum roll… Big Day Outʼs ʻCulinary Outlawsʼ, Ben Milgate and Elvis Abrahanowicz of Porteno / Bodega have secured a line up for up north with some of the hottest, spiciest and tastiest names in Australian food to become a part of the inaugural Chow Town at Big Day Out!
Borrowed from Lollapalooza which features local chefs from the best restaurants in Chicago. Australia’s own Chow Town was announced about a month ago with culinary outlaws Ben Milgate and Elvis Abrahanowicz of Porteno / Bodego overlooking the project nationally.
Sydney is the city that Big Day Outʼs ʻCulinary Outlawsʼ Ben and Elvis call home and where they themselves will be chopping up at Big Day Out 2013 Sydney is also the city where Ben and Elvis were awarded the Time Out ʻPeoples Choice Award 2012ʼ and the Sydney Morning Herald ʻChefs of the Year 2013ʼ so it makes delicious sense that Sydney is the first stop on the Big Day Out Chow Town epic culinary tour.
Big Day Out 2013 will tick all the entertainment boxes, including great gourmet festival food. To join the stellar music line-up in Sydney, Chow Town will be kicking off with a bevy of Sydneyʼs hottest chefs.
To join the stellar music lineup in Sydney Chow Town will be kicking off with a bevy of legendary chefs.
Louis Tikaram will be delivering a festivalised version of Longrainʼs mouth-watering blend of Thai and Chinese influences. Eating at Longrain is a journey into Asian-style dining where dishes are designed to be shared, banquet style.
The generously sized main meals work to combine the contrasting flavours of hot, sour, salty and sweet – a luscious balance of textures, flavours and aromas. Louis is Longrainʼs head chef and ptotege to executive chef Martin Boetz. Martin in 1999 joined forces with sommelier and restaurateur, Sam Christie to open what is now a Sydney institution. Sam is the man responsible for Longrainʼs multi award winning wine list which he carefully constructs to compliment and perfectly balance Martinʼs delicious food.
Getting your ducks in a row is no issue for chefs Mark LaBrooy, Shannon Debreceny and Darren Robertson who have combined their talents to create what is now an institution amongst the local residents of Bronte, the newly hatted Three Blue Ducks.
Creating calm and cool in this smart-casual restaurant where multi-course dishes draw on vast experience, with menu highlights such as black pudding and fried duck egg – calamari and smoked corn – parsnips, artichokes and almond – rare duck breast with rhubarb and liquorice. Three Blue Ducks have left the white linen tablecloths behind them and these former Tetsuya chefs who were brought together by the love of surf and are riding the new wave of honest, innovative and local Sydney dining.
Joining Mark La Brooy and crew at Chow Town is Gregory Llewellyn. Gregory, an American national and his Australian wife, Naomi, are the culinary might and brains trust behind Hartsyard – a ʻseed and feedʼ restaurant featuring produce-led, comfort food nestled within the Newtown neighbourhood.
The Hartsyard menu, which is split into ʻseedʼ (lighter options) and ʻfeedʼ (more substantial dishes), is meant for sharing. According to Llewellyn, the menu is his take on modern-day comfort food, and his Oyster Poʼ Boy, Cold-smoked Fried Chicken with buttermilk biscuit and low country sausage gravy and the heavenly Poutine with hand cut beef chilli, cheddar, ranch and hot pepper vinegar would tend to substantiate his claims.
Jonathan Barthelmess is bringing a festival version of his Greek share plates to the Chow Town party from The Apollo. Simplicity, freshness and an absence of pretension are the essential ingredients of The Apollo promise.
The focus of The Apolloʼs cuisine is on the share plate aspect of Greek food, with the menu including dishes cooked over wood-fire and served with an accompaniment of Greek yoghurt, or the ʻfull Greekʼ with mullet roe taramasalata and slow cooked lamb. The collaboration with old family friend and business partner, Longrainʼs Sam Christie, has been in the pipeline for years. With a proven record in making other good restaurants work, Christie, himself an Australian Greek, is one of the reasons the iconic Longrain has remained at the forefront of both the Sydney and Melbourne dining scenes.
Not a Spice Girls fan but want to spice up your life? Well, the culinary playground that is Rojo Rocket, located on the Central North Coast in Avoca is bringing the taste of true Mexico to Chow Town. Rojo Rocket brings a tantalising menu of tapas, tacos y ensaladas and mains that are interchangeable. Founded on a dream to bring a slice of real Mexico to Australia and authentic in every facet, from the truly amazing décor to the head chef, Alejandro Urbina from Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
With so many cool sets lined up, we had to find equally as awesome chefs, so we hope you donʼt find it too hard to choose between heading over to Chow Town to get ahead of the lines for mouth watering delights or getting a front row spot in the mosh pit. Itʼll be a tough one!
From a national perspective, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and the Gold Coast will also see a mix of gourmet treats from both national and local named chefs. As Big Day Out punters check out bands stage to stage, they will then be able to set up their own degustation diversion of hand held festival food, stall to stall!
Curated by Ben Milgate and Elvis Abrahanowicz of Porteno, Culinary Outlaws, Chow Town is set to become the epicenter of epicurean cool at Big Day Out 2013!
Milgate says, “This is a dream gig for many chefs as restaurants can be very social anyway and this will be like a great big version of that, but youʼll be out in the sunshine, drinking a couple of brewskis and listening to some good tunes. Itʼll be awesome.”
Big Day Out 2013 Chow Town Line Up
Ben Milgate & Elvis Abrahanowicz of Porteno / Bodega
Louis Tikaram of Longrain
Mark LaBrooy, Darren Robertson & Shannon Debrecency of Three Blue Ducks
Gregory Llewellyn of Hartsyard
Jonathan Barthelmess of The Apollo
Alejanandro Urbina of Rojo Rocket
