Savouring (and revering) Tasmania, and all her products

With more than my fair share of genes from my anti-social artist father in me, I reluctantly gave in to my genuine anti-social instincts last night and dragged my sorry arse along to Me Wah in Sandy Bay to meet bestie Steve Cumper and experience my first foray into the world of Savour Tasmania – at an 8 course degustation dinner, with matched wines, especially prepared by Hong Kong (and Savour Tasmania) guest chef Alvin Leung, from Bo Innovation restaurant (2 Michelin stars, so I’m told!) in Hong Kong.

The night was, to coin a much-used word in my reviewing vocabulary, interesting!

This type of function seems to attract many echelons of society and last night was no different. There was the usual sprinkling of pullers and wankers, but overall it appeared to be a crowd of people anxious to experience Alvin’s food, and enthusiastic to do so, as each successive course came out of the kitchen, introduced and explained each time by Alvin.

Cobber Steve had been Moderator at Drysdale yesterday for the Master Class sessions of both Alvin and Spanish chef Paco Roncero, so he arrived at Me Wah to meet me armed with insider info on all things Alvin/Paco/Savour Tas – a bonus for a minor player in the game of food like myself, a mere observer!

Glitterati of both the Tasmanian and mainland food world were in attendance, including such well known names as Lindy Milan (who MC’d last night’s event extremely professionally, as you’d expect) and Simon (ABC series ‘The Cook & the Chef’) Bryant.

I had a lovely chat with Graeme Phillips about blogging and reviewing, and was relieved he was still speaking to me following recent inflammatory comments on this blog about him!

I also coincidentally found myself seated next to Hilary, a mainland food (fish) blogger and food writer from The Age who proved to be an exceptionally knowledgeable and lively dinner companion and whose husband owns a Melbourne restaurant. She kept Steve and I entertained for ages with her conversation, especially given that we all had absolutely NOTHING in common!

So – what about the food, I can hear you asking! It was great. It wasn’t, as I commented to Hilary, the most fabulous meal I have ever had in all my born days, but it was (that word again) interesting. It was interesting to see what overseas chefs are currently doing and cooking. It was interesting to hear what both Lindy and Alvin had to say about food (and wine) in general. It was interesting to hear what everyone around me had to say on the subject of food.

Nothing earth-shattering came out of it, for me anyway. It was a great night. My undying gratitude to Steve for inviting me along as his guest to this dinner, and to Anne and Allen from Economic Development for organizing such an obviously well respected event as Savour Tasmania.