The Ten Best Things to Do at Sydney Good Food Month 2015

A Wild Picnic promises to be a mysterious and thought-provoking dining experience if you have a spare $240. Join James Viles (Biota), David Moyle (Hobart’s Franklin) and Aaron Turner (Geelong’s Igni) for a sustainable lunch at a secret location in the Southern Highlands. All the ingredients will be foraged and sourced within the area and prepared using just Mother Nature. For bookings call (02) 4862 2005 or email info@biotadining.com.

There’s no better way to discover Parramatta’s hidden lanes than with Parramatta Lanes. For four nights only, street food, craft beer gardens and art installations will pop up where you’d least expect it. To give you an idea of what’s on offer, Knafeh, Happy as Larry, Piccolo Me and Temasek will all be there. Grab a bite to eat white you peruse the Shoot the Chef exhibition, which will be on display. The event runs nightly from 5–10pm.

Does checking your Instagram on the weekend give you a serious case of brunch jealousy? It’s time to get back at your friends with what can only be described as a mega-brunch, happening just across the road from the monthly Pyrmont Growers’ Market. You know it’ll be good when Ruby’s Diner, Pinbone, Hartsyard, West Juliett and LuMi are behind the menu. Prepare yourself for the likes of chicken and waffles, strudel and Single Origin Roasters coffee.

The coveted Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year Award has helped launch the careers of some of Sydney’s finest. This years Young Chef’s Dinner is set to be the best yet. Previous winners Mark Best (Marque – 1995), Hamish Ingham (Bar H – 2004), Daniel Puskas (Sixpenny – 2006), Phil Wood (Rockpool on Bridge – 2007), Dan Hong (Mr Wong – 2008), Mitch Orr (ACME – 2010) and Lauren Eldridge (Marque – 2015) will be cooking every course. If that doesn’t make you just a little bit emotional, we don’t know what will. For bookings call (02) 9252 1888.

Let Chippendale barbecue experts LP’s and Haverick’s take care of your Sunday lunch. Well, after they teach you a few things. If you’re interested in nose-to-tail cooking and butchery, this is the event for you. Have you ever wondered how LP’s get their sausages and cured meats to be so amazing? They’ll tell you how at Sunday lunch. You’ll also learn how to break down a whole black Berkshire pig before enjoying a long meaty lunch.

There’s Halloween parties. Then there’s Japanese-themed haunted house parties. Yes, you heard correctly. It’s a party with sake, Japanese beer and whisky, street food and candy. Yum. Have fun with all-you-can-sing karaoke and arcade games on the creepiest night of the year at Goros. For bookings call (02) 9212 0214.

It’ll look like an Asian hawker market, smell like one, and definitely be as packed as one. Old favourites will be back with all the dumplings, noodles and barbecue you can think of. You’ll see a few new faces among the stalls this year, including Toko, Bang and Ramen Zundo. Black Star Pastry and N2 Gelato will also be making their first appearance at the markets, armed with what we know will be delicious desserts. Be prepared to queue.

Just when we thought we couldn’t have any more sweets, along comes Sweetfest — a two-day-long sugar party featuring the likes of Katherine Sabbath, Andy Bowdy, Lorraine’s Patisserie and Mak Mak. It’s not all about eating sugar though. An assortment of masterclasses, like Andy Bowdy’s soft serve desserts class, will be held across the two days.

A lot of us miss Pinbone, but luckily, they’re teaming up with Newtown favourites Young Henrys to throw a raging party with wild animals, wild weeds and “crazy, wild messed-up beers”. We’re not sure what that means, but we like it. Come along, find your inner beast and get loose. Email info@pinbone.com.au to book tickets.

Ivan Orkin is a self-described “Jewish kid from New Jersey” but he’s really an innovative star chef. You may recognize him from that one noodle episode of The Mind of a Chef. If you don’t, all you need to know is that David Chang is a huge fan of his soup noodles. The new-school ramen chef will be joined by Dan Hong (Mr Wong), Mitch Orr (ACME), Ben Sears and Eun Hee An (Moon Park), Federico Zanaletto (LuMi) and Pasi Petanen (Cafe Paci), who are all dishing up their own versions of ramen. If that’s not enough, Sydney’s resident cool guy Andrew Levins will be providing the tunes for your rave.