By Christine Salins

Loosen the belt a few notches and find your roomiest clothing in preparation for Good Food Month, the time when Sydney kicks up its heels with an exciting program of culinary events. Held throughout October, it celebrates everything that’s great about food and drink in NSW.

Headlining this year’s program is the world’s most celebrated chef, Ferran Adrià of Spain’s ground-breaking El Bulli restaurant, while Australian-born Skye Gyngell is returning down under to show why she is so hot in London.

Photo courtesy of
Whitesalt Restaurant, WA


Photo courtesy of
Kingsley Steakhouse, NSW
The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Month is one of the country’s most dynamic and eagerly awaited food and wine events. The newspaper’s Good Living editor, Sue Bennett, says it’s a great opportunity for the public to meet growers, producers and chefs. “In this, its 11th year, there are more than 250 events across Sydney and NSW including lunches and dinners, markets and cookery classes.”

The calendar is so full that the organisers have had to squeeze in an extra day for the Sydney Food and Wine Fair on November 1. This signature event raises money for the AIDS Trust and usually attracts around 30,000 people to Hyde Park. As well as lively entertainment, there’s a wide selection of dishes created by more than 100 restaurants. This is a great opportunity to create your own degustation menu.

In a coup for the organisers, molecular gastronomy guru Ferran Adrià is in town to launch his new book, A Day at elBulli. The restaurant is a pilgrimage for food lovers, with reservations nigh-on impossible. It opens for just six months each year and receives more than two million requests for 8000 seats. This extraordinary chef will share some of his secrets in a talk at the State Theatre on October 17.

Skye Gyngell is renowned for the way in which she brings out freshness and flavour in her dishes at Petersham Nurseries Cafe in Richmond, Surrey. During a lunch and masterclass at the Four Seasons Hotel on October 1, she will show guests how to cook the recipes they are dining on.

On selected Tuesday nights, chefs with hats from The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide are doing special menus that vary significantly from their normal fare. Throughout the month, more than 85 restaurants featured in the Guide are offering $35 lunches including a beverage.

Taste a huge array of cheese and meet the cheesemakers at the Sydney Specialist Cheese Show on October 19, indulge in an ale or two at the 4th Annual Australian Beer Festival on October 25-26, or get your Sugar Hit when every night throughout the month, Sydney's leading hotels offer a dessert plate and a glass of Brown Brothers dessert wine or Hennessy cognac.

The Night Noodle Markets get bigger and better every year, with the northern part of Hyde Park transformed into a market with all the colour and aromas of a traditional Asian food market. It’s on each evening from October 13 to 17.

Other long-time favourites throughout the month include the Good Living Growers’ Market on October 4, festivals in Danks Street, Waterloo, and Norton Street, Leichardt, on October 26, Cocktail of the Month and Young Chefs’ dinners.

By the time this feast of flavours draws to a close, there’ll be only one thing left to do - the gym awaits.

For those who can’t make it to Sydney for Good Food Month, there are more great events to whet the appetite, including the Brisbane Good Food & Wine Show from November 7 to 9, and the ultimate in eat fests , the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival from March 7 to 23.