Story and photos by Vivienne Pearson
What does it mean to win a Golden Fork award at Bangalow’s Sample food festival?‘It is recognition, it shows that I am on the right track,’ says Zohar Flantz of Luscious Foods. ‘I know from previous years that I was close, but this year my dish hit the mark.’
Zohar’s entry in the $5 tasting plate competition was a Saneeah Pide, a mix of beef and lamb with caramelised onion, pine nuts, tahini, tabouli and pickles in wood-fired pita bread. One of the judges, Steven Snow (Fins Restaurant), agrees that the pide hit the mark. ‘While the offerings from Harvest, Town, and Ilias the Greek were outstanding, I felt that the Saneeah Pide from Luscious was best – mainly owing to the spicing and ethnicity of flavour, which helped it stand out,’ he says.
The $10 tasting plate winner was from The Stockpot Kitchen, based at Bangalow Bowlo. ‘Who doesn’t like winning?’ laughs Graeme Stockdale when asked what the Golden Fork means to him, adding: ‘It’s magic. We’re stoked the judges liked our fried chicken as much as we do.’
One of the judges of the $10 section, Spencer Patrick, did indeed like the chicken, which is cooked southern style, accompanied by a kale-and-apple ’slaw, homemade hot sauce and pickles. It was ‘quite simply the best fried chicken I’ve ever tasted,’ Spencer says. ‘The decision wasn’t easy as all the $10 plates were great. It was just that the spicy, crunchy chicken had me going back for more.’
For Graeme, the most immediate impact of winning was that he had to abandon lunch service at the Bowlo in order to join wife and business partner, Jen, to receive the award. ‘It’s lucky we are close, as I literally sprinted over,’ says Graeme. The next impact is that the remainder of their 600 serves of chicken sold out within a half-hour of the award’s being announced. If you missed out, Thursdays are the evening to visit Stockpot, as they offer a bigger version of the winning dish.
Both Luscious and The Stockpot Kitchen are a little hidden – Luscious in the depths of the Byron industrial estate and Stockpot within a bowlo – but their great food is no longer secret. The Good Life is happy to report that they were already on our radar, with stories written about both of them in the last two months – check these out at Echonetdaily as well as checking their food out in person.
And don’t forget about the many other eateries whose entries in the Sample competition made the judges’ job in selecting just two winners so hard.
‘Chief Chicken Cooker’ Jim Luscious Foods Zohar and Stockpot’s Graeme, Sous Chef Byron
The Stockpot Kitchen: Bangalow Bowling Club (Tues–Sat 5pm and lunch Fri & Sat).
Luscious Foods: Unit 1/6 Tasman Way, Byron industrial estate (Mon–Fri 7.30am–3pm and Friday night 5.30–9.30pm as well as catering).
