Taste of Summer: Kids ‘wonderland’ added
Tasmanians can score free entry to the state’s biggest foodie event for one day only, while kids can enjoy the festival’s newest play area - Little Hobart.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
KIDS can get a taste of the action inside the newest play area at Tasmania’s biggest foodie festival.
Dubbed Little Hobart, the outdoor play area is a new addition to the Taste of Summer and a place for kids to recharge and have fun after a day spent sampling snacks and sweets.
The kids zone has everything from circus activities and trampolines to a bush headband making workshop using native plants.
Best friends Aubrey, 5, and Lili, 3, loved playing on the balance boards and hula-hooping under the giant teepee.
Aubrey’s mum Mel described Little Hobart as “a secret kids’ wonderland” where the girls could have fun after enjoying some ice cream.
“It’s just amazing that they have this set up – it’s obviously got a circus theme to it – it’s a lovely activity for the kids to do and, you know, obviously there’s the other space over the other side for the adults. So it’s a nice combination,” Mel said.
Taste of Summer creative director Jo Cook said Little Hobart was also a place for parents to unwind.
“Families are really loving it. There’s trampolining in there, you can jump on a springboard, leap over a vault and land on a crash mat. There’s bean bags to lie on and just chill out,” Ms Cook said.
Kids and adults alike can enjoy free entry to Little Hobart and the Taste from 12-4pm on December 31 as part of the City of Hobart Community Day
Gusty winds not enough to deter hungry foodies
Windy weather wasn’t enough to scare away hungry Hobartians from getting a feed at the Taste of Summer, after a successful first day on Tuesday.
On day one the event attracted a crowd of more than 6000.
Carlina Montero from Kiltro Street Food served up hundreds of serves of paella on day one.
“First day we did about eight to nine big pans of paella, each has between 30 and 40 serves,” Ms Montero said.
“Day one was hectic, it was beautiful and hot, everyone was really happy.
“We really enjoyed the vibes everyone brought.”
Ms Montero said the stall served up a mix of cultural flavours.
“Kiltro Street Food was born about three years ago,” Ms Montero said.
“We are mixed between my Latin and Spanish background, my grandad is from Spain.
“At the Taste we are only doing paella, but at the market we do hotdogs.”
On Wednesday the opening of the event was pushed back by an hour, to 1pm, while organisers waited for gusty winds to ease.
“Because of the weather conditions it’s been very windy, so the opening was an hour late but people were hungrier,” Ms Montero said.
Taste of Summer creative director Jo Cook said numbers were strong on the first and second day.
“It was such a great day [day one], people were waiting at the gate and they poured in and went to different areas, waterfront, into the shed into the lawn,”
Ms Cook said there was a good balance of the event being busy, without being too packed out.
“Numbers are tracking really well today, the site’s pleasantly filled and there’s a good atmosphere,” she said.
“There’s a lot of space even inside, in the past people might remember the shed being full of tables and chairs, we don’t set it up like that … it’s very spacious.”
“People are on bean bags, they’re on arm chairs, under the trees.”
Pasta fresh from nonna’s kitchen among unique offerings
Hungry patrons flocked to the Taste of Summer when gates opened late on Tuesday afternoon for day one of the festival.
It’s Pizzirani’s Cucina owner, Olivia Pizzirani’s second time at the Taste, and she’s brought her “secret weapon” to make her food special.
“We’ve got my nonna here, she’s 82,” she said.
“She makes the fresh pasta and as soon as it’s made it goes into the pot and gets made.
“She’s my mentor and one of the chefs. She’s our secret weapon.”
Ms Pizzirani owns a restaurant in Devonport and has made the long journey down with her Nonna for the festival.
“We do a lot of traditional Italian food but we put of a twist on it with fusions from Asia and other parts of Europe,” she said.
“We’re loving being able to do stuff in Hobart, get the different demographic of people here and cook for big groups.”
Nonna Dina Pizzirani said she was excited to be back at the Taste.
“I don’t mind doing a bit every day,” she said.
“I’m very excited, I’m pleased this year it looks like it will be better than last year.”
Mrs Pizzirani used to run a restaurant in the North West.
“I’ve been cooking for myself all the time and my husband I and I had a restaurant in Shearwater together for 20 years, I got a lot of knowledge,” she said.
“When my husband passed away I gave up everything.”
“Olivia said to me ‘nonna if I opened a restaurant would you help me?
“I said I can help for a couple of weeks … it’ll be five years next year.”
On the drinks front Tasmanian Baijiu is promising to deliver something extra special.
Timothy Ye said it's the only producer of the Chinese distilled spirit in Tasmania.
“This is our first time at the Taste,” Mr Ye said.
“We have been established for four years, the first three were us trying to make the baijiu right, the product finally came onto the market in July this year and now we’re at the Taste.
Mr Ye said it was a unique offering.
“It’s got a lot of earthy flavours to it, you can’t really compare it to any other spirit, you only have to try it to find out,” he said.
“We are the first Tasmanians producing baijiu at the moment … we are using the most traditional methods, the process takes a minimum of a year.”
Others were seasoned stallholders.
“It’s our second or third year to the Taste, we’re bringing the soul food of Taiwan,” Luna Chan stallholder Sunsun Zeng said.
“Normally we have a long long queue in front of our stall.”
Taste of Summer chair Jarrod Nation said day one was expected to be the busiest.
“For the first day we’re hoping for in excess of 9000 people, ticket sales have been very strong,” he said.
“There’s a lot of pent up demand on day one … we’re expecting a very large crowd.’
Hospitality and events Minister Nic Street said the event was iconic.
“The Hobart waterfront at this time of year is unmatched,” he said.
Hungry Hobartians get their Taste of Summer
FOODIES will finally have the chance to try the best the state has to offer at Tasmania’s Taste of Summer festival in Hobart.
Creative Director of Taste Jo Cook said it’s all systems go at Princes Wharf, with more than 80 food and drinks stallholders from around Tasmania gathering, with some bringing in all their fresh produce this morning.
“We’ve got lobster rolls, there’ll be abalone being cooked, there’s lots of oysters, scallops, there’s a lot of barbecue food outside as well,” she said.
Ms Cook said there’s also plenty of entertainment to watch while foodies enjoy their meals.
“We’ve got over 40 Tasmanian music artists coming to play. It’s a revolving stage, so back-to-back programming on the main stage”.
Taste Director Ben Targett said they’re prepared for the scorcher forecasted today.
“It’s really spacious, it’s very family-friendly, we’ve got an extra 7k Distillery Pavilion at the back, so we’ve got heaps more cover.”
Mr Targett said locals may also get a chance to witness history in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race.
“The weather forecast is such that the boats could be in on race record time and that would mean that they cross the line sometime in the evening,” he said.
“With the boats getting quicker, you know, hopefully, we might see the winner across the line in front of the crowd at the Taste,” Mr Targett.
Founder of 7k Distillery Tyler Clark said it’s an exciting time for his business.
“It kind of gives us the opportunity to showcase what we can achieve as a business you know with our kind of creativity and provide a unique experience to Tasmanians or people travelling interstate to showcase the Tasmanian products that we produce.”
“We’ve always been quite heavy in the tourist and event space in Tasmania, so the event space has always been really special for us to connect with other businesses and locals,” he said.
Mr Clark said they have been working hard with other producers around the state to create products that are purely Tasmanian.
“We’ve just released our first gin cocktail in a can, it’s called Tasmanian Raspberry Gin Fizz, and that’s pretty much our most popular product.”
The Taste opens to the public at 4pm today and will run until January 2.
FIRST LOOK: New set up for Taste of Summer
TASMANIANS are hungry for a taste of the state’s biggest foodie festival.
Organisers have been putting the finishing touches on Tasmania’s Taste of Summer ahead of its grand opening at Princes Wharf on Tuesday.
The team at Shambles Brewery has been busy setting up their stall on Castray Esplanade, right near the event’s main stage where artists including Darryl Braithwaite will entertain summer crowds.
Shambles Brewery events manager Bruna Trindade said the festival was a great environment for locals and tourists to sample Tassie products.
Taste chief executive Stephen McMullen said the reimagined set up on Hobart’s waterfront would provide a family-friendly experience.
“Princes Wharf itself will host a range of food and beverage options and we’ve designed it to reduce queues and make sure there is a lot of space,” Mr McMullen said.
“The area on Castray Esplanade now has a new look with the huge 7K Distillery pavilion facing the main stage.
“The waterside area is looking great and will be a fantastic place to watch the Sydney to Hobart yachts arrive in style.”
There is also a new children’s play area and plenty of seating options, with the venue expecting thousands of patrons to pass through daily.
“We will cap capacity to make sure everyone will be able to soak in the atmosphere. So far we have seen strong ticket sales and I would encourage anyone thinking of coming to the Taste to book early,” Mr McMullen said.
The Taste of Summer will run from December 27 to January 2.
Taste Opening Hours
Tuesday December 27: 4.00pm – 10.30pm
Wednesday December 28: 12.00pm – 10.30pm
Thursday December 29: 12.00pm – 10.30pm
Friday December 30: 12.00pm – 10.30pm
Saturday December 31: 12.00pm – 4.00pm (FREE ENTRY for City of Hobart Community Day)
NYE Event December 31: 6.00pm – 1.30am
Sunday January 1: 12.00pm – 10.30pm
Monday January 2: 12.00pm – 8.00pm
Tassie couples share secrets to success
Could you work with your partner? In honour of the month of love, we chat to four Tassie couples, who live and work together, about the highs and lows and their secrets for relationship success
Read more
Triple murder accused fights for freedom
The man alleged to have killed three people in an ‘execution-style’ shooting and is accused of attempting to murder another has applied for bail.
Read more