Fate seems to have drawn me to the Central West NSW recently. Orange F.O.O.D Week and Matt Moran’s Chiswick restaurant in Woollahra hosted a dinner earlier this week to launch Orange F.O.O.D Week that runs from Friday 6th to Sunday 15th April 2018. It’s a full and delicious program line up and what caught my eye was the idea of the F.O.O.D Train that leaves from Central Station and arriving in Orange where you go on tour for the weekend sampling local regional food and meeting the chefs and producers.
The shires of Orange, Cabonne and Blayney are known as ‘The Food Basket’ of NSW. Each year F.O.O.D. Week (Food Of Orange District) supports local produce and ‘fine food’ with an annual event held over 10 days in April, showcasing the producers, their products, the local chefs and restaurants, and other enterprises that provide the region with its great reputation for fine food and wine.
Offering everything from wine tasting to farm gate tours, cooking demonstrations, cabaret, music and picnics to a huge ‘Night Market’ and Forage, plus the 100-Mile Dinner hosted by the F.O.O.D Week committee and the people of Molong, featuring dishes made from local produce sourced within a 100 miles of Orange.
During F.O.O.D Week you can visit farms, markets, kitchens, restaurants, cafes, wineries, attend special celebration dinners, workshops and events and sample fine wines, orchard fruits, beef, lamb, venison, vegetables and more.
Orange in New South Wales, Australia is just a 3.5 hour drive from Sydney and a 3 hour drive from Canberra. It is well-serviced by rail and bus, and has a local airport for 1 hour direct daily flights from Sydney.
I leave you with some photos I took at the launch event at Chiswick the other night.
For more information about planning your trip for F.O.O.D Week go to www.orangefoodweek.com.au.
