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Hi there,
I found a lovely quote this week: The trouble with doing nothing, is that it’s very hard to know when you’re finished!
I don’t know about ‘doing nothing’ and I am sure you don’t either. Anyone involved with regional food, at any level, is busier than they ever thought they would be. And it never finishes either, does it, with always one more person to meet, another email to send, another tree to finish piking, another coffee to make …. Whatever part of the industry you are in, I am sure you know exactly what I mean.
Which is one way of saying that the website is generating its own heat as more and more people hear about it.
If you are thinking about taking out a Premier Listing, do just realise that the substantial savings will not go on forever as the Special Opening Offer will soon have to come to an end.
So let’s see what we have found for you this newsletter. Please get your friends to sign up for it, and send us your newsy ones.
Cheers,
Sally and Gordon
PRIZE TIME
 The buzzers went off almost immediately the last newsletter hit cyber-space. Several people knew that the interesting stone pyramid we asked you about is near Ballandean in the Granite Belt of south-east Queensland.
You also discovered by looking at Gordon’s picture on the website that it began as a bit of joke when a local farmer didn't know what to do with the granite boulders that he unearthed when planting vines. Kristy Lark from Hobart was the first person to tell us she knew this piece of trivia. Well done, Kristy! She received a signed copy of Weird & Wacky, our little book of other truly amazing things from around the world. email us
SO, BUCKLE UP NOW FOR ANOTHER ONE!!
 Kristy Lark, just happens to be one of THE Larks from Lark Distillery, established in 1992 in Hobart to produce single malt whisky and premium Tasmanian spirits.
Ten years ago when researching the first edition of the Australian Regional Food Guide I spoke to Lyn Lark who fascinated me by telling me how she had been experimenting with Australian native pepper berries instead of juniper berries when making gin in the distillery. This inventiveness and expertise has gone on and on until now this distillery is highly respected.
Kristy has very kindly offered a bottle of their smooth and delicious Slainte whisky liqueur. Please note: to be eligible to win this prize, you must be over 18. Send your answer to the website. If you are the first one with a correct answer, we will contact you for your address, and age, which we will then send on to Lark Distillery who will post out this very generous prize to you.
HERE it is: Please tell us what NSW event takes place this coming weekend, May 17 and 18, and give us its website address.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE….
It must be the cold weather, but we are feeling super-generous this week.
The first person who can correctly answer the following question will get a further TEN PERCENT off the already low price for a Gold or Silver Premier listing.
What are the GPS coordinates for Deeb’s Kitchen?
email us
SHARE YOUR WARES
If your business would like to become involved in this way, by offering a prize, please let us know. Alternatively, you may want to advertise on the site, or offer discounts to anyone with a Premier Listing on the site.
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 WE HAVE A WINNER!
The first person to subscribe to a Gold Premier Listing in our special promotion won a copy of Sally's Regional Food Guide Cookbook. Once again our prize was awared to a South Australian. Congratulations to Rachel McMillan from Scoop @ the Shed at Port Elliot on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Rachel and her business partner Claudia Lisle-Worner really have a wonderful vision of what regional food is all about. A very worthy winner.
INFORMATION EXCHANGE
The Australian Regional Food Guide began as a guide-book for visitors to regional areas. Now as a website it has evolved into a hugely important resource for all people in the industry as well. Take a look at what the Granite Belt in south-east Queensland is doing. Even if you are geographically unable to attend, do see it as a worthwhile template for other regions.
Note these things too:
• The region has set it up independently, yet have sensibly called in experts from
• other regions to share their skills and expertise.
• Attendance is free.
• There will be wide and broad-based discussion.
• It addresses both food and wine tourism and regional production.
The Granite Belt Food Forum From Paddock to Pantry and Plate
 The Granite Belt Food Forum From Paddock to Pantry and Plate is inviting anyone on the Granite Belt who is involved in the food chain to participate. That means growers through to food service and food retail. The food forum is the latest initiative of Granite Belt Wine & Tourism Inc (GBWT) as part of its strategy to develop a sustainable tourism economy in the Queensland wine capital.
The full day event at QCWT on Wednesday 4 June will form the foundation of a comprehensive culinary tourism industry. Over time, such development will complement the well established horticultural and wine tourism industries on the Granite Belt.
 The forum will be led by Peter Howard, one of Australia’s leading food and wine commentators and consultants. He will be joined by Mrs Kim Currie who has a solid track record of developing food tourism in Orange, NSW. Trends show that affluent consumers today want more from their food than just a commodity, they want taste and they are prepared to pay for it. Mr Howard has said that amongst the many benefits of developing food tourism on the Granite Belt is increased career opportunities for the region’s young people.
When: Wednesday 4 June 9am – 5pm
Where: Queensland College of Wine Tourism
RSVP: Bookings essential before 1 June. For more contact 4681 0411 or email, marketing@granitebeltwinecountry.com.au
Cost: Free.
READ & SEE MORE ABOUT THE GRANITE BELT
FREE WORKSHOPS
Attention all NSW tourism operators. Free workshops are being held to help prepare entries for the NSW Tourism Awards.
The workshops are currently underway with successful events held in Nowra and Narooma this week. Next week workshops will be held in Wagga Wagga (Monday), Tamworth (Wednesday), Dubbo and Broken Hill (Thursday). Next week’s workshops will help operators enter the Inland Tourism Awards which follow the same format as the NSW Tourism Awards. That means if operators win their category in the Inland Tourism Awards they become automatic finalists in the NSW Tourism Awards.
Workshops for the Hunter, Mid North Coast, Northern Rivers and Southern Highlands will be held later this month and Sydney workshops will be held in June. For more information to click here. To register for these free workshops please contact Shan Lawson, NSW Tourism Awards Coordinator on (02) 4333 8908, fax: (02) 4332 9660, mobile: 0408 153 605 or email: awards@ticnsw.com.au.
FEED US PLEASE!
Keep feeding us news, views, events and other titbits. If you have a recipe using your produce please send it along and we might feature it on the newsletter.
How about a truly regional dish where every ingredient is local?
Australia is not unique. In fact France has always revered terroir, that subliminal mix of air and soil and produce. Here is something from my latest book on France, Pardon My French! where, in a tiny town in rural Lot et Garonne we stumbled across a concept so blindingly simple any region could adopt it. . . read on
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