Rick Stein at Bannisters Executive Chef Julian Lloyd and Head Chef Alex Dawkins entertained a big crowd at the Narooma Oyster Festival this week with a cooking demonstration.  The festival is always well attended and this year was no exception - very well organised, colourful ... and gorgeous weather as always. A great day out! The images here show just a little of the action.

                                                                            

The Fundraising Dinner to raise money for the Cancer Council Shitbox Rally in April was a huge success!  M.C. for the night was our Sommelier Toby Evans, who managed to both encourage and contain the frivolity sufficiently to ensure everyone had a great night.  Lots of donated prizes were either raffled or auctioned. He also ran a wine options game which saw three quarters of the guests eliminated after one question!

The night raised more than $11,000 for the Cancer Council

M.C. for the night was our Sommelier Toby Evans                           General Manager and rally team membr Peter Bacon

Some fabulous prizes were donated for the raffle           All of our kitchen and floor staff volunteered to work on the night

The rally team members: Jeff (Bannisters Maintenance manager) Darren 'Daz' (Manager at Betta Electrical and past employee at Bannisters), Pete (Bannister's General Manager) and Julian 'Jula' (Executive Chef, Rick Stein at Bannisters).

They raised $100 just for putting it on!

A recent conference with 20th Century Fox was a big success, and as part of their stay with us they enjoyed a Cheese and Wine Tasting led by our Sommelier, Toby Evans.  Here are some shots from the day.

Our local Ulladulla Harbourfeast Food and Wine Festival was a great day - sunshine, lots of delectable food, good wines and loads of people made it a huge success.  Bannisters stand was very popular - what better than a bucket of icy cold prawns and glass of chilled white wine on a hot day!  A fabulous start to what is sure to be a regular event on our yearly calendar.

The Sydney CRAVE100 Mile Challenge (part of the food and wine festival) was a huge success, with a no less than five regions from around NSW battling it out for line honours.  Our Sommelier Toby Evans represented our regional wines, and two of our chefs Alex Dawkins and Paul Goodenough presented the region's main course (Warm Salad of Eastern Rock Lobster with Potatoes, Jamon and a Fine Herb Mayonnaise accompanied by a 2005 Semillon from Coolangatta Estate, Shoalhaven Heads).  Berry Sourdough Bakery was also involved in the Challenge, preparing an inspired dessert (Basil and Honey infused Panna Cotta with Strawberry Jelly, Baked Rhubarb and Fresh Strawberries).  We are thriled to say that ours was voted the best main course and Berry Sourdough won the dessert category, making our region the overall winners of the Challenge!