The ultimate foodie fundraisers helping flood victims

Brisbane’s beer barons and top chefs are raising vital funds for flood victims, with two unique initiatives that may prove irresistible.

Brisbane’s top chefs and beer barons are out to help flood victims, with two incredible fundraisers auctioning off everything from your height in beer to a private dinner for four at one of the city’s hardest-to-book restaurants.

Gerard’s Bistro, Fortitude Valley head chef Adam Wolfers has assembled kitchen kings and queens from Brisbane’s best venues including Joy, Essa, Stanley, Otto, Yoko, Agnes, and the Ghanem Group to create a fantastic dinner in support of local farmers.

The $300 a ticket dining experience on March 30 at Gerard’s will help raise money for southeast Queensland growers Falls Farm, Neighbourhood Farm and Loop Growers, which had their entire properties wiped out, equipment destroyed and crops thrashed in last week’s freak weather event.

The sustainable, small-scale farms supply the city’s most loved restaurants, and may be unable to harvest again for six months.

“These are small guys. They don’t have money coming in every week like some of us do and they need to eat and to survive,” Mr Wolfers said.

“They’re going to need a lot of help getting back on their feet and getting through the next three, six, 12 months. If we can raise as much money as we can to take that load off them, it’s just another stress that they don’t have to worry about.”

From left, Will Cowper, Oscar Solomon, Louis Tikaram, Adam Wolfers, Fin Burgess, Sarah Baldwin, Juliette Markovich, Gianna Ephraims and Jake Nicolson from local Fortitude Valley restaurants. Picture: Richard Walker

With ingredients generously provided by suppliers Thai Hoa Grocer, Westholme Wagyu, Inala Seafood Market, Fish Factory and Fino Foods, the dinner will feature multiple courses from chefs Louis Tikaram, Fin Burgess, Oscar Solomon, Jake Nicolson, Alex Gregg, Will Cowper, Gianna Ephraims, Juliette Markovich and Sarah Baldwin.

An auction will also be run alongside the dinner with prizes including a dinner for four at award-winning restaurant Joy in Fortitude Valley, which is one of the hardest venues in the state to get a booking.

Meanwhile, Brisbane’s beer barons are uniting this weekend to support their fellow brewers who were devastated by the floods with an all-day booze and bites event featuring online and live auctions.

The Great Brown LemonAID will be on March 12 at Easy Times Brewing Co in Woolloongabba and will help raise funds for breweries Milton Common, Newstead, Range, Parched, BrewTide and Fonzie Abbott, which lost tens of thousands of dollars in beer and equipment; as well as Albion’s Grandad Jack’s Distillery, which has been left inoperable.

All proceeds from beer bought on the day, as well as that raised by auctions and merchandise sales, will go directly to the brewers to help them pay their insurance excesses and rebuild.

Punters have the chance to bid on everything from a hot lap in a V8 Supercar to their height in beer courtesy of Stone & Wood.

In pictures: Queensland floods from above

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