The award-winning Tomato Festival Sydney returns for a fifth year on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 February 2018, from 10:00am. This is a fun, harbourside food festival celebrating all things tomato.
The theme for 2018 is the ‘edible garden’. There will be plenty of opportunities for everyone to taste tomatoes, as well as fresh produce and condiments that go perfectly with tomatoes.
Plus there are free and ticketed events on the spectacular foreshore lawns – it’s a fun outdoor event for this summer.
The popular ticketed event is the Longest Tomato Lunch, where you can join a 70-metre long communal dining table for a feast of tomato-inspired dishes (Sat & Sun at 12.30pm). Relax over a delicious weekend lunch with spectacular views of the harbour.
If you are into fine-dining, the $55 4-course tomato degustation Brunch at the Botanic Gardens Restaurant is worth thinking about. On Sunday 18 Feb 2018 at 10:00am, you can start the day with a Bloody Mary and let Head Chef, Matt Fletcher’s delicious tomato-filled menu tantalise your taste buds before heading off to enjoy the festival!.
Looking for some kid activities? There is the hands-on Pizza Making for Kids (Session Times: Sat & Sun 12-1pm or 1.30-2.30pm) where your children can take their taste buds on a delicious adventure in the garden! Activities include a treasure hunt to find pizza ingredients, planting yummy Mediterranean herbs to take home and making a munchalicious mini-pizza to eat.
There are plenty of free activities including village markets, gardening talks & tours, cooking demonstrations, taste testing, competitions, Diggers Heirloom Tomato Taste Test (11.30 am – 1.00 pm daily), Harris Farm Markets Tomato Mandala and guided walks (10.30 am daily).
There will be a wide range of stallholders such as Second Mouse Cheese Company, Proscuitto di Parma and Wild Kombucha, who will be creating special blends for the festival. There will be innovative tomato-inspired dishes at the popular Relish ‘pop-up’ cafe and bar, as well as delicious bread from Sonoma, desserts from the Dessertmakers, chutneys, relishes, sauces, olive oils and much more.
Cooks can discover new techniques with celebrated chef Luca Ciano, who honed his skills in the 2 Michelin-starred restaurant ‘Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia’ in Milan. Plus there will be many more free cooking demonstrations in the Cooking & Learning Hub, including dessert making, easy seasonal Italian dishes and tomato preserving.
