Top Sydney chefs take over food court for ’90s throwback party (and remix tuck shop treats)
Try fancy snacks − including this take on a classic vanilla slice − from star bakers and chefs, with arcade games, club bangers and Midori splice cocktails.
Fine dining chefs from the likes of Aria, Chiswick and Loulou Bistro are taking over the food court at Quay Quarter for a ’90s throwback party on Friday, May 24, the opening night of Vivid Sydney.
The one-night residency, Tuck Shop, will transform the Circular Quay food court into a rumpus room reminiscent of old-school teen dramas like Saved by the Bell and the OG Heartbreak High, amping up nostalgia with arcade games, bake sales and ’90s club bangers spun by DJ BC (Caterpillar Club, Busby’s Bar).
Expect upwards of eight food and drink collaborations over two sessions, scheduled before and after the Vivid Sydney fireworks display at Sydney Harbour.
Tom Gorringe, executive chef at Matt Moran’s two-hatted restaurant Aria, will put his own twist on the Southern fried chicken at Belles Hot Chicken, the Nashville-inspired diner co-founded by (now-departed) Morgan McGlone (Bar Copains).
There’ll also be chicken-curry party pies from Deli Ziosa and Plate it Forward founder Shaun Christie-David (the Good Food Guide’s 2024 Innovator of the Year, who featured on an episode of the ABC’s Australian Story); fish and scallop fingers from Costi’s Fish and Chips and hatted North Sydney restaurant Poetica; and banh-mi from Nam Nam, made with plant-to-plate Woollahra restaurant Chiswick.
Cookbook author and founder of Heartbake Bites supper club Charlotte Ree, who is making her burnt basque cheesecake (“a cake so good it will make you cry”) for the bake sale.
She’s joined by Christopher Thé, the baker behind Stanmore bakery Hearthe and Black Star Pastry’s strawberry watermelon cake. Thé will take on a classic vanilla slice.
And in case you need to be reminded of your first foray into the drinking world, there’ll be Midori splice cocktails from Colin Tam, the bar manager at The Charlesin the CBD (ex-Little Felix, Charlie Parkers).
The $90 ticket price includes eight snacks, pastries from the bake sale and a cocktail, and The Sydney Morning Herald subscribers can score two-for-one tickets here.
Tuck Shop is the latest event from the Good Food Events team. It follows a sold-out long table dinner with Melbourne food legend Guy Grossi and Lana head chef Alex Wong in Quay Quarter Lane in Sydney, and a collaborative dinner between Lee Ho Fook and Baba’s Place at QT Melbourne.
Good Food Events are bringing Melbourne’s first hatted lasagne restaurant, 1800 Lasagne, to Sydney for a one-night residency at QT restaurant Gowings on June 19. The dinner sold out within 12 hours.
Tuck Shop is held over two sessions at 4-6.30pm and 7-9.30pm on Friday, May 24. Tickets and further information are available here.
All the collaborations at Tuck Shop (so far)
- Aria (executive chef Tom Gorringe) X Belles Hot Chicken
- Chiswick (chef Daniel Cooper) X Nam Nam
- Poetica (chef Connor Hartley-Simpson) X Costi’s Fish and Chips
- Loulou Bistro (chef Ned Parker) X Pappy’s Chicken
- Rekōdo X Chinta Kenchill
- Plate it Forward (founder Shaun Christie-David) X Deli Ziosa
- Pearl (executive chef Steve Wu) X Lotus Dumpling Bar
- The Charles Bar (manager Colin Tam) X Cali Press
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