Over nine days, the Scenic Rim’s restaurants, farms, breweries and food businesses will unite to host 125 events across 42 locations for Eat Local Week. This celebration of regional culinary endeavour has been running for more than a decade, with more and more folks flocking every year to get a taste of what the Scenic Rim – recently named by The Lonely Planet as one of the ten must-visit regions in the world this year – has to offer. Eat Local Week returns with renewed vigour after 2021’s edition was curtailed by pandemic-related restrictions, this time around loading its program with events for adventurous eaters, serious oenophiles, the craft curious, animal lovers and family units.
Gastronomy-loving gourmands will get a kick out of Scenic Rim Eat Local Week’s restaurant-centric offering, which includes highlights like the KALBAR-BQ long table lunch at Kalbar’s Showground’s Pavilion, Blume’s City Chef series featuring appearances by Zach Tinsley from Congress Wine, Phil Marchant and Finn Burgess from ESSA, and Matt Blackwell from GOMA, and the Paddock Feast at Hazelwood Estate. Folks eager to get up close with local producers are similarly spoiled for choice, with a brewery experience at Scenic Rim Brewery, meet-the-winemaker sessions at Witches Falls Winery and a meet-the-producer barbecue lunch at Picnic Real Food Bar (featuring graziers Rod and Debbie Richardson from Running Creek Beef) on the cards. A visit to the region isn’t complete without spending time tasting the best produce and products available – thankfully Eat Local Week’s program features a bevy of opportunities to sample loads of local treasures. Macadamia farm tours and bush tucker talks at Greenlee Farm, sunset cocktails and vodka tasting at Summer Land Camels, and cooking demonstrations featuring Flutter By Gourmet Creations and Towri Sheep Cheese are essential itinerary additions. If you can only attend one event, best to make it Scenic Rim Eat Local Week’s signature event, the Winter Harvest Festival on Saturday July 2, where producers, suppliers, retailers and chefs will gather for a day of market stalls, tasting plates, live music, cooking demonstrations, kids activities and the tractor-pulling competition.
Keen to spend a few days feasting? Click here to check out the full Scenic Rim Eat Local Week program.