Ben Shewry, chef-owner of Melbourne’s Attica restaurant will speak at Western Australia’s first Food and Drink Symposium (FADS) in Perth, May 2017. Attica was crowned Australasia’s best restaurant for the fifth year running, coming in at number 32 in the prestigious World’s 50 Best Restaurant 2017 list on 7 April.
The community-driven symposium will be Shewry’s first major food event appearance in Western Australia, where he will be providing insights on running Attica and also discuss mental health in the restaurant industry.
Joining Shewry will be Tammi Jonas of Jonai Farms in Victoria, the current Chair of Fair Food Farmers United (FFFU), the producers’ branch of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA). Jonas will share her experiences with ethical and viable farming models.
In a similar vein to Noma’s MAD conferences and Ben Shewry’s own WAW Gathering festival, FADS will bring together farmers, producers, chefs, educators and consumers for a unique, community creating and sustainable food and drink event, with a day long program of talks, panel discussions and workshops.
“The aim is to discover and bring to the fore issues that we face as a State and to discuss them as a community,” said Katrina Lane, FADS co-founder. “We hope this will result in improving our food and drink landscape and strengthening and making the industry we work in more vital”.
The FADS program will cover a range of topics including the real cost of food, the challenges of chef owned and operated restaurants, a behind the scenes look at a regional culinary tourism business, the history of the state’s alcohol industry and the place of native ingredients in modern Australian cooking.
Amongst the lineup at FADS will be key WA chefs, food/drink experts, farmers and producers including Joel Valvasori-Pereza (Lula La Delizia), Sam Ward (Mas), Aaron Carr (Vasse Felix), Amy Hamilton (Liberte), Kenny McHardy (Manuka Woodfire Kitchen), Sophie Zalokar (Foragers), Warren Pensini (Blackwood Valley Beef), Harry Wykman (bio-intensive urban farmer), Guy Jeffreys (Millbrook Winery), Jude Blereau (Jude Wholefoods), Dale Tilbrook (native produce providore) and Nic Giblett (Newton Orchards). More speakers to be announced soon.
To run the event, a crowdfunding campaign commenced in February, with over 40 percent of the $45,000 target reached to date. Tickets to the symposium are being sold through the crowdfunding campaign. Supporters can also pledge for limited tickets to an exclusive post-event Sundowner to meet and chat with the farmers, producers and chefs involved with FADS.
“We chose to raise funds through crowdfunding because we want people to be a part of making FADS a reality and build a community of people who are more engaged with their food and drink culture”, said Ai-Ling Truong, FADS Co-Founder.