Held at the newly completed house at Billy’s Lookout, Teralba, which sold at auction on Sunday and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help children with cancer, the dinner was attended by, among others, winners of the Newcastle Herald’s Electrolux Build for a Cure competition. 

Lake’s Folly’s Rod Kempe personally matched wines to each dish. 

Here is a sample of what we all missed out on. The first course alone featured duck liver pate with blood orange and fennel; fresh oysters with shiso and fried onions; and tartlet of house-made labna with mulled wine gel. As for dessert, think ginger and chocolate semifreddo, aerated caramel, brandy wafer and beetroot. 

And it was all for a good cause.

Craft beer lovers, The Boat Shed at Belmont is hosting the Ekim Craft Beer Dinner on November 9. Brewer and founder of Ekim Brewing Co, Mike Jorgensen, will match beers to a four-course, Viking-style feast. Ekim Brewing Co. is a small craft-brewing company based in Sydney whose unfiltered and unpasteurised beers are made only in small batches with malt, hops, yeast and water. Tickets are on sale now at Belmont 16s reception or online, $68 for members and $76 non-members. 

As for the menu, it includes broken pork ribs, speck, sauerkraut and apple; seared duck breast with spiced carrot puree and ruby jus; and Mandagery Creek venison with red onion jam and amber-poached cherries.

Hart & Hunter’s cellar door at Pokolbin will host the winery’s inaugural Magnum Launch on November 5 and 6.

“We have always bottled magnums from our single-vineyard wines and thought we should get people excited about the enjoyment of sharing wine from a magnum,” winemaker Jodie Belleville told Food & Wine. 

For just $25 you can enjoy five wines with a tasting plate prepared by Rustic Tuckerbox. A range of magnums and current release wines will be available for purchase. Bookings essential on 0421 632 233 or email info@hartandhunter.com.au.

Also on November 5 and 6 is Tastes at the Bay, at Nelson Bay. Read all about it in next Wednesday’s Herald.

Like it or hate it, Halloween has become a fixture on Australia’s celebratory calendar. 

Cupcake Espresso and Doughheads will be selling some ghoulish treats and Murray’s Brewery will be releasing a house-made pumpkin ale this Saturday, October 29, made of fresh roasted pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices. 

FogHorn Brewhouse has pureed about 70 kilograms worth of pumpkins to brew its first pumpkin beer and expects to produce “900 litres of pumpkin beer, or 2118 schooners”. And The Pourhouse will become The Gorehouse this Friday, October 28, where special Halloween brews will be on tap and creepy cocktails will be made. Prizes for best-dressed punter are on offer. 

Speaking of spooky, Barcito and Coal & Cedar are celebrating the Day of the Dead.

Barcito, on Beaumont Street, will officially open its Cabana Courtyard this Sunday (October 30) with cocktails, live music and food from their already famous South American grill. 

It’s Coal & Cedar’s turn on November 2 – and rest assured, the tequila will be flowing. 

Bushrangers Bar & Brasserie will take your taste buds to France this Friday and Saturday, October 28 and 29. Diners will have a choice of two courses from $28, bookings essential on 4930 1202.

Travino’s took over the site of the former Mama Mex at Warners Bay a few months ago and is hosting a “native Australian” dinner on Thursday night (October 27). Tickets cost $65 per person, and limited seats are available. The menu stays true to the theme: red kangaroo with pepper berry and bunya bunya pine nut; blue eye cod with wattle seed porridge and wild wood sorrel; lamb breast with saltbush crisps, carrot and labna; native apple and pig belly with pickled native greens; and chocolate and Mt Pepper panna cotta.

Food & Wine happened to be sitting next to Troy Rhoades-Brown when he found out his two-hatted Muse Restaurant had been named the number one fine-dining restaurant in Australia and 15^th in the world in TripAdvisor’s annual Travellers’ Choice awards.  He couldn’t get the grin off his face.

And, to top things off, Spicers Vineyards Estate’s Restaurant Botanica came in at number three. That’s two Hunter Valley restaurants in the top 10. The Travellers’ Choice awards are based on the quantity and quality of reviews made by travellers and diners on TripAdvisor over a 12-month period.​​

Scratchleys will officially open its new tapas bar, Battlesticks, with a Melbourne Cup event on November 1. The Orana Hotel at Blacksmiths has re-opened with a family-friendly bistro and The Cricketers Arms Hotel in Cooks Hill has revamped its dining area.  As for the Sydney Junction Hotel, its beer garden overhaul is on track and will result in an outdoor bar, a courtyard and an undercover playground.