After a successful launch, Sunday Sous Sessions will return to Sydney in 2018. Hospitality spoke to Lauren MacDougall of Hopscotch Collective about the success of the event and the plans for the future.
Hospitality: When will the next series be held?
Lauren: April and September will be our events. There will be two series.
H: Can you describe the chef selection process?
L: We have a huge list of chefs who we connected with from this year. There’s only four events, so it’s getting them down and getting the right dates so they can make the event. We do have a wait list we’re working with at the moment to try and marry up dates and ensure they’re available and the right fit to the series.
H: What is the selection criteria?
L: They have to be hatted restaurants. We do have a lot of head chef friends, and we gravitated toward people we knew in the first season who were quite reputable and supportive with the events. They also have to be a sous chef and have support from their restaurant.
We also have to ensure the dishes are within the criteria we had discussed with the suppliers, who work closely with the chefs and offer what is seasonal for that week or month in terms of produce.
H: Any plans to alter the pricing?
L: With our experience, we felt $165 was appropriate. When you think about sous chefs from hatted restaurants, they provide great quality food and service. We didn’t want to lean towards any particular market. We wanted the price to be cost-effective and allow more of a younger generation to come to a meal like that.
Sunday Sous Sessions will return in April 2018. Further details to come.