Food news you need to know this week





Five top tips for foodies in Brisbane and beyond.

  • Who is #1 on World’s Best Restaurant list?
  • High tea for mum
  • Lunch with a twist
  • Brush up your chef skills
  • Daily bread with bonus 


Who is #1 on World’s Best Restaurant list?


It’s back to #1 on the S. Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurant list for Noma, the Danish restaurant recognised for its highly original version of Nordic cuisine which looks like a Danish landscape.




Chef-owner Rene Redzepi is an inspiration to chefs worldwide with his attention to detail and innovative foraging and fermentation.

In Australasia, Melbourne’s Attica takes the title of Best Restaurant coming in at #32 for the second year.  Ben Shewry’s playful reminders of Mother Nature and his tasting menu’s imaginative, nature-led cuisine wowed the judges.

Congrats to Australian chef Brett Graham at The Ledbury in London who moved up on the list from 13 to break the top 10. His standout dish -  Loin of roe deer baked in Douglas fir with white beetroot, blackcurrants and smoked bone marrow – is on my list.

More congratulations to Tetsuya Wakuda for entering the list at 50 with Waku Ghin in Singapore.

The only other Aussie restaurant on the list, which also continues into the top 100,  is Sydney’s Quay at #60.

High tea for mum


In this week’s Ed+bK newsletter I’ll be giving away two seats to the Treasury Heritage Hotel’s Mother’s Day High Tea.  The hotel will have high tea sittings on May 10 and 11 with sweet and savoury treats accompanied by a glass of Moet Champagne on arrival and live entertainment. Best of all the parking in The Myer Centre is included. Cost is $66 per person.






Treasury Heritage Hotel’s lab bar + restaurant on Sunday will also host a Mother’s Day Lunch on 11 May with a menu that finishes with a decadent 70 per cent cacao chocolate tart with raspberry marshmallow and boysenberry ice cream – I’d be happy with that. Cost is $85 per person and it includes a box of choccies and parking.  Find out more


Lunch with a twist

The good folk at the Romero Centre Refugee Centre in Dutton Park have put together an innovative six session cooking program designed to take you on a multicultural lunch adventure every Saturday from May 3 until June 7.




Starting on May 3 the weekly sessions will feature cooks from different ethnic backgrounds showcasing the food that tells the story of their lives.  It’s an event that highlights how diverse the cultures in our city can be, but how food brings people together regardless of our backgrounds.

Each session will be $50, or $300 for the whole series. For group bookings of five or more people, it is $35 per person and includes lunch after each cooking demonstration. Find out more here.

Brush up your chef skills


Most people can cook, but if you’ve spent time in the kitchen whipping up a fabulous meal you at least want a few ‘oohs and ahhs’ when you put your plate or platter down on the table…that’s where Vanilla Zulu chef Melanie (Mel) Townsend’s easy presentation tricks and tips come in handy.  As Mel says: We eat with our eyes first!




This talented entrepreneur from southern Africa has upped the ante with her highly successful ‘chef’s skills course’, refining the six-week culinary adventure into an educational masterpiece that mixes lashings of fun with serious cooking tricks. 

The course covers the simplest and the most complicated tasks and everything in between. It’s completely hands-on and everyone gets to sit down to a sensational four-course meal at the end of every session. 

The next six week Chefs Skills Course starts on May 5 and costs $695 per person. Find out more www.vanillazulu.com.au


Daily bread with bonus


You’ll have to be quick, but there’s still a chance to help Sol Breads with their goal to raise $75,000 for Cherish Foundation’s work in researching new treatments for women’s cancer. 




For every loaf before May 1 sold SOL Breads is donating 50c to the Cherish Foundation and $3 for every six pack.  Pop into one of their shops at West End or Toowong or purchase online at ishop.soldbreads.com.au

The Sol Cherish six pack includes Rice & Pumpkin Loaf, Megagrain Loaf, Rice & Chia Loaf and Gluten Free Fruit Loaf, all especially suitable for coeliacs and those on a gluten free diet. It’s available for $35 plus freight instead of the usual price for these loaves of $51.50 plus freight. This bread keeps well in the fridge or freezer and passes the Ed+bK taste test.  Buy some Sol Bread today.