The 2011 Vogue Living Champagne Dinner was held last Friday 23rd September at The Byron at Byron Resort and Spa.

Internationally loved Chef Warren Turnbull, who operates two of Sydney’s hatted restaurants – Restaurant Assiette and District Dining, both in Surry Hills, was Guest Chef for the prestigious event. Warren’s lavish degustation was matched with five of the world’s finest Champagnes.

Guests include Vogue Living Editor David Clark, Gerry Harvey, Katie Page, TV personality Sarah Wilson and acclaimed stylist Sue Kropp, responsible for styling the resort for the event.

“I had an absolute ball” said Warren Turnbull. “Cooking with Gavin Hughes was great and the weather was stunning. I though the Byron Farmers Markets were amazing. Such a beautiful set up incredible produce. The herbs and the lettuces, the meats, the produce available in Byron is second to none”.

The five courses included Roasted breast and croustillant of quail with Jerusalem artichoke, dates, yams and fennel, Cannelloni of spanner crab with pear gel, brioche, dill and cauliflower and Salad of strawberry and grape with vanilla donuts and a yoghurt sorbet.

This was the fourth Vogue Living Champagne Dinner to be held at The Byron at Byron. Previous guest Chefs were Mark Best (2010), Justin North (2009) and Philip Johnson (2008).

The 2011 Vogue Living Champagne Dinner menu:

Canapés including Seared Kingfish with quinoa, wasabi pannacotta and ponzu
Larmandier Bernier Blanc de Blancs

Canalonni of spanner crab with pear gel, cauliflower, dill and brioche
De Sousa Brut Tradition

Roasted breast and crostillant of quail with Jerusalem artichoke, dates and fennel salt
Bollinger Special Cuvee

Rare roasted First Light venison loin with walnut and foie gras puree, spiced beetroot and puffed wild rice
Gosset Grand Rose

Strawberry and cherry salad with yogurt sorbet, vanilla donuts and mint emulsion
Moet Chandon Nectar.

The Sample Food Festival, held on September 10 at the Bangalow Showground, was enormously popular with over 10,000 people attending throughout the day.

“We were thrilled with the crowd” said festival organiser Remy Tancred. “There were of course locals from across the Northern Rivers and I also met many visitors down from the Gold Coast and Brisbane throughout the day”.

Hundreds of children enjoyed entertainment from Cupcake the Clown, Lenny the Lion, Byron Bay Kidz Club, the Macadamia Castle and others. Non-stop entertainment from Kurtis, Kato and Wolf, Eliza McLeod, Ilona Harker and Tres Hombres had the crowd kicking back on the grass, enjoying the restaurant offerings.

Nearly all of the 22 restaurant marquees sold out of their $5.00 and $10.00 tasting plates, some before they could even offer the Sample Judges a taste. Belinda Jeffrey, Joanna Savill, Barbara Sweeney and Steve Snow judged the best of the plates over the course of the day, presenting the Golden Fork Awards at the Sample Gala Dinner on Saturday night at The Byron at Byron Resort.

The sell out dinner was attended by 150 guests, who enjoyed four courses with matching wines prepared by eight of the regions’ top Chefs – Monique Gutteres-Harrison, Gavin Hughes, Adam Smith, Perry Hill, Katrina Kanetani, Scott Frost, Peter Busara and Joe Griffin.

The $5.00 plate winner was Satiate for their lemon myrtle and lime meringue cupcakes, with Harvest achieving the runner up place for their Harvest brioche roll with John Singh’s braised shredded pork, onion jam and Coopers Shoot Tomatoes.

The $10.00 plate winner was Fleurs Restaurant in Ballina for their saffron infused mussels with chorizo. The Beautiful Feast achieved the runner up place for their Ploughman’s plate with marmalade glazed Bangalow ham. Seaweed Cuisine and The Boardwalk were awarded Peoples’ Choice Awards for their record number of plates sold on the day.

“I was so pleased the exhibitors had a successful day and really appreciated the support of my sponsors who made the festival happen” said Remy Tancred.

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Last Friday (September 2) The Byron at Byron Resort won Best Upper Upscale Hotel in the prestigious HM Awards for Hotel and Accommodation Excellence, held at the Sydney Town Hall.

The Byron at Byron was awarded first place in this category in front of a record crowd of 600 hoteliers and travel industry leaders.
Hosted by television personality Larry Emdur the HM Awards, now in their 9th year, recognise the accommodation industry’s finest properties across Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

“The Byron at Byron is a very worthy recipient of this award” said James Wilkinson from Hotel and Accommodation Management. “What John and Lyn Parché have been able toachieve has been exceptional, something even more impressive given the property’s location in a regional area. Well done to John and Lyn and their team on an award that is very well deserved.”
Other properties in this category which made the finalists cut include the Crown Metropol in Melbourne, the Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel, the Sydney Hilton and the Grand Hyatt Melbourne.

General Managers of The Byron at Byron Lyn and John Parché are currently overseas attending the Destination NSW European Trade Mission. The intensive tour sees them promoting Byron Bay and the Northern Rivers to European agents in Munich, Frankfurt, Paris, London, Manchester and Zurich.

“We are thrilled to win this award” said Lyn Parché. “We thank our amazing team for continually raising the bar and performing at such high standards to enable The Byron at Byron to compete in the national arena with this illustrious competition”.

The 2011 HM Awards saw not just a record crowd, but also a record number of entries with 1600 this year.

Over NZD $60,000 was also raised on the night for the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust.

The Byron at Byron is also celebrating the one year anniversary of their Locals Card and is reminding locals to sign up for the complimentary card, which entitles locals to 10% off full price dining, accommodation and spa treatments. 1300 554362