African cuisine isn’t super common in the Australian dining scene, but the food that South African-born Duncan Welgemoed is cooking at his lauded Adelaide eatery, Africola, is legendary – it’s one of those restaurants that make you consider booking a flight just for dinner.
The super buzzy restaurant does South African barbecue with the addition of North African flavours like pickled vegetables and hummus and roasted lamb. The meat is made from animals bred and raised exclusively for the restaurant and all its produce is sourced from local SA farmers.
And now Welgemoed is saving you a flight by bringing his mod-African dining experience to Sydney for Good Food Month, where he will be throwing a snack party called Africola Sound System. It’s not the full sit-down experience, but rather a cocktail party that will marry contemporary African cuisine and Western bangers into one big ole party. Welgemoed will be smoking and basting all sorts of delicious cuts for the evening, and we’re hoping he’ll bring over his secret hot sauce served in vintage Coke bottles.
Africola Sound System will be held on Saturday, October 7 at 6.30pm and tickets are $100 each, which you can purchase here. It may seem a little pricey but it’s a lot cheaper than flights to South Australia.
If you can’t make it, there’s plenty of other festive eats on the Good Food Month line-up. This year the festival runs from October 5-22, and you’d best believe the Night Noodle Markets are back. 40 stalls will be set up in Hyde Park, which this year has been styled to look like Palms Springs, blending spicy noodles and yum cha with cactus prints and oases. For the full program of events, head to the Good Food website, especially if you want to book tickets to the retro dance parties being held in Hyde Park on Monday Oct 16 and Tuesday Oct 17, first thing in the morning. The Retrosweat crew will help you work off what comes next, which is a breakfast prepared by Black Star Pastry. Tickets are $40 per person for the dance-bakery and you can grab them here.
Craving something sweet now? Take a look at the best cakes in Sydney.