Variety of Chefs Ball

Variety - the childrens charity is dedicated to empowering Australian children who are sick, disadvantaged or have special needs to live, laugh, and learn. They host a (pun alert!) variety of functions and events every year, and will be holding a black tie BALL on 15th June at Brisbane Hilton. Just quickly, the chefs are;

• Alejandro Cancino, Chef of the Year and Australian Gourmet's Best New Talent
• Ben Williamson of Gerard's Bistro, Best New Restaurant
• Tony Kelly of the Stokehouse, 2 hats
• Hajime Horiguchi of Wasabi in Noosa, Regional Restaurant of the Year
• Damon Amos of Public Bar, 1 hat
• Jeremy Clarke of the Hilton, awarded 1 hat for Vintaged
• David Pugh of Restaurant ll, 1 hat
• Kim Machin, former Chef of the Year
• Adrian Richardson of Melbournes La Luna.

If you know any chefs you might appreciate how difficult it is to get 9 chefs in a room together sober, but these award winning, busy chefs all happily worked together for the ball. The day before this they visited Narbethong  State Special School, to meet the children who will benefit from the ball, and take part in some wheel chair dancing. The children at this school are not only visually impaired  but most are in wheel chairs and heartbreakingly, many have been put into foster care by parents who are unable to cope. I cannot even imagine how hard that must be, just the thought made me cry. Embarrassing! Such a sook.

Anyway, wipe those tears away and lets get down to business. If you where watching my instagram feed last Thursday your stomach might have been grumbling.  Above is a sand crab ravioli, which may well be the best thing I have ever eaten. Behind it was a chicken daikon salad roll, which was refreshing and delightful.


Here is a little bit of heaven. A pickled vegetable salad, sushi on a spoon (OMG OMG OMG!!) and a perfect oyster with the most delicious, subtle dressing. I am very fussy about oysters and normally cannot bear any sauce polluting the heavenly morsel, but this dressing actually enhanced the oyster without taking away the iodine tang of the ocean. Wizardry.



Duck liver parfait sandwich, with a little wodge of orange jelly! YUM! Even vegetarian Redcliffe Style liked this, although she might have found the oyster to be a bit confronting. (See instagram for the funniest photo)


This, my friends, is a hollowed out quail egg filled with salted caramel. I don't know how but the actual egg shell tasted like candy. It was presented in a beautiful faux rustic box looking like the waiter had just popped off to the candyrush quail house to collect them for us. Then he left, so you will have to make do with my truck driver hands.