Food lovers and aspiring chefs are registering up to a year in advance for Blacklea Vineyard and Olive Grove cooking masterclasses.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The classes run by executive chef Nathan White are regularly booked out many months in advance.
Blacklea Winery owner Bernard Blackley said only four places remain available for the Asian Fusion classes to be held in February, 2016.
Thai masterclasses in June 2016 are also booking fast and the winery has already taken bookings for the French cuisine masterclass on the October 2016 long weekend.
Mr Blackley credits the popularity of the classes to the skills of Mr White, who in six years of creating menus of eight or nine courses for each class, has never repeated a dish.
For last weekend’s Fine Dining Made Healthy masterclass, Mr White drew on his nutritional medicine study to teach participants to create a degustation menu of up to 12 courses, matched with Blacklea wines.
A highlight of the class was the Edible Garden, with baby vegetables in a bed of “topsoil” created from dehydrated olives and hommus.
Word of mouth and repeat visitors, as well as a strong local following, have also contributed to the success of the event.
Mr Blackley estimates that around 60 per cent of class participants are repeat visitors.Robyn Allerton of Umina Beach near Gosford was among those attending her second class on the weekend.
“I came to the Thai masterclass in June and had such as great afternoon that I came back,” said Ms Allerton. “I was lucky to get in on a cancellation.”
With each of the three classes per weekend limited to only 14 people, people making enquiries are being encouraged to put their names on a reserve list.
