Food Bites: Club chefs in Perfect Plate cook-off

Head chef Jonathan Heath has put his rivals on notice. Manu Feildel and Colin Fassnidge yesterday gave his “Perfect Plate” dish the tick of approval. The celebrity chef duo were at Cessnock’s Vincent St Kitchen + Bar as ambassadors for the 2021 Your Local Club Perfect Plate Awards. There, they sampled Heath’s Perfect Plate entry – slow-cooked beef cheeks – and rated it “five out of five”. The Perfect Plate Awards is a new club culinary competition that asks chefs from clubs across the state to put forward their best dish, with club patrons deciding the winners. There will be three state-wide winners in the small, medium and large club categories, plus 13 regional winners. ClubsNSW CEO Josh Landis reckons competition will be fierce. “Clubs from the Newcastle and Hunter region have always performed strongly in our dining competitions. In fact, Vincent St Kitchen + Bar was the winner of our old Chef’s Table competition when it last ran in 2019,” he said. “Plenty of other local clubs have recorded podium finishes in the past and it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if a Hunter-based club took out the state-wide award. “Judging by the quality and variety of the competition dishes, local diners will be spoiled for choice in this year’s Perfect Plate Awards.” Voting is open until June 21. Diners are encouraged to visit participating clubs, taste the Perfect Plate dish on offer and score it out of five by scanning the eatery’s unique QR code or filling out a simple paper voting form. While diners can only vote for each Perfect Plate dish once, they are encouraged to taste as many competition dishes at as many NSW clubs as possible. The most prolific club eaters will be in the running to win dining vouchers worth up to $ 2500. Fourteen clubs from across Newcastle and the Hunter are competing: The winners will be announced at a special gala dinner on July 7 at Doltone House, Darling Harbour. To find out more about the Perfect Plate Awards visit perfectplate.com.au. A new dining experience is coming to Newcastle and it’s the brainchild of Neroli Foster, founder of Underground Epicureans. It’s called the Artist Dinner Series at The Owens Collective and it’s an evening of food and wine in an Islington creative space – with live music and good conversation thrown into the mix. The inaugural event will be held on Friday, June 4, at The Owens Collective and will feature the talents of artist Doug Heslop. He will talk about his work and join guests for a two-course dinner prepared by Newcastle chef Cooper Thomas, better known as The Wilderness Chef. Inner City Winemakers will curate the evening’s wine selection and and label each bottle with an original artwork designed by Heslop specifically for the event. “Doug is making two artworks available to Inner City Winemakers for them to label a red and white wine as an Art Series Collection. These will be served on the night and guests will receive a bottle to take home as a gift,” Foster said. “We’ll do a few more of these events throughout the year and each will feature a different artist and label.” Tickets are $ 165 per person plus booking fee at theowenscollective.square.site. “We will be creating a restaurant-style dining experience in the gallery space, which was what Underground Epicureans has been about from the beginning – dining in a space where you don’t expect to dine,” Foster explained. “When people talk about doing pop-ups these days, it’s still mainly in a restaurant setting. In my mind a pop-up is doing something with a space that isn’t normally done there.” Foster also runs the Savour Newcastle Food Walk and East Feast Long Lunch. Details at undergroundepicureans.com.au. IN NEWS TODAY: Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

Manu Feildel and Colin Fassnidge yesterday gave his “Perfect Plate” dish the tick of approval.

The celebrity chef duo were at Cessnock’s Vincent St Kitchen + Bar as ambassadors for the 2021 Your Local Club Perfect Plate Awards. There, they sampled Heath’s Perfect Plate entry – slow-cooked beef cheeks – and rated it “five out of five”.

The Perfect Plate Awards is a new club culinary competition that asks chefs from clubs across the state to put forward their best dish, with club patrons deciding the winners. There will be three state-wide winners in the small, medium and large club categories, plus 13 regional winners.

ClubsNSW CEO Josh Landis reckons competition will be fierce.

“Clubs from the Newcastle and Hunter region have always performed strongly in our dining competitions. In fact, Vincent St Kitchen + Bar was the winner of our old Chef’s Table competition when it last ran in 2019,” he said.

“Plenty of other local clubs have recorded podium finishes in the past and it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if a Hunter-based club took out the state-wide award.

“Judging by the quality and variety of the competition dishes, local diners will be spoiled for choice in this year’s Perfect Plate Awards.”

Voting is open until June 21. Diners are encouraged to visit participating clubs, taste the Perfect Plate dish on offer and score it out of five by scanning the eatery’s unique QR code or filling out a simple paper voting form. While diners can only vote for each Perfect Plate dish once, they are encouraged to taste as many competition dishes at as many NSW clubs as possible. The most prolific club eaters will be in the running to win dining vouchers worth up to $ 2500.

Fourteen clubs from across Newcastle and the Hunter are competing:

Belmont 16 Foot Sailing Club (SALT, Steak & Seafood – Hunter Valley lamb shoulder);
Beresfield Bowling Club (HotPlate Restaurant – Hotplate chicken);
Budgewoi Soccer Club (Angkasa Malaysian Restaurant – BBQ king prawns);
Carrington Bowling Club (Cowper St Diner – seafood chowder);
Central Leagues Club (BBs Restaurant and Pizzeria – hickory BBQ & honey pork ribs);
Vincent Street Kitchen and Bar (slow-cooked beef cheeks);
Cessnock Leagues Club (Entice Bistro – confit pork belly);
Charlestown Bowling Club (Bistro on the Green – Humpty Doo barramundi);
Easts Leisure and Golf (sous vide duck breast with charred baby vegetables);
Kahibah Sports Club (Bistro 63 – chicken supreme);
Lake Macquarie Yacht Club (Crusoe’s On the Lake – seafood bouillabaisse);
Club Lemon Tree (Eats@Club Lemon Tree – chicken roulade);
Shortland Waters Golf Club (Greenside Bistro – crackling pork belly); and
Valentine Bowling Club (Jessies on the Water – barramundi fillet).

The winners will be announced at a special gala dinner on July 7 at Doltone House, Darling Harbour. To find out more about the Perfect Plate Awards visit perfectplate.com.au.

Artistic experience

Clint Marquet from The Owens Collective and artist Doug Heslop. Picture: Peter Graf (AVsupport)

A new dining experience is coming to Newcastle and it’s the brainchild of Neroli Foster, founder of Underground Epicureans. It’s called the Artist Dinner Series at The Owens Collective and it’s an evening of food and wine in an Islington creative space – with live music and good conversation thrown into the mix.

The inaugural event will be held on Friday, June 4, at The Owens Collective and will feature the talents of artist Doug Heslop. He will talk about his work and join guests for a two-course dinner prepared by Newcastle chef Cooper Thomas, better known as The Wilderness Chef. Inner City Winemakers will curate the evening’s wine selection and and label each bottle with an original artwork designed by Heslop specifically for the event.