Story and photo S Davey
The Sample Food Festival kicked off in fine form again this year with the Sample Lunch hosted by celebrity chef (and now local bloke) Shannon Bennett and the Vue de Monde team.
The four-course set menu showcased locally sourced produce and demonstrated the Vue team’s considerable talents translate to cooking in a tent. A couple of favourite dishes were the mud crab salad with Moreton Bay bug and smoked potatoes as well as the sweet potato and macadamia, although perhaps the most ‘oohs and ahhs’ were awarded to the dessert, a selection of petite sweets that looked very much like real shells, stones, and sand but were all edible and decadent.
A friendly Shannon himself visited all the tables and was up for a chat with the punters. He has had a property for a couple of years now in the Bay but has moved here full time a few months ago, with children at a local school, it would be difficult not to ask him to man the fundraising sausage sizzle. Shannon did have a hot tip for a small restaurant that is going to open in Byron Arts & Industry Estate at some stage in the future by another highly acclaimed chef.
Thanks, Shannon Bennett and the Vue de Monde team for a fantastic lunch!
