More than 26,000 people flocked to Nelson Bay for the month-long Love Seafood festival.
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During the month of August, traditionally a slow period for Nelson Bay, foot traffic along d’Albora Marina for the Love Seafood event Farmers of the Sea (on August 12) was recorded at 11,601.
According to organisers, close to 15,000 people visited the marina for the Fish and Fun event on the weekend of August 26-27.
“Based on the success of this year’s festival, the organisers feel confident that we are well on our way to establishing Love Seafood as a flagship on the NSW events calendar,” Danny Eather, destination marketing manager for Destination Port Stephens, said.
Love Seafood was staged for the first time in 2016.
With the support of Huon Aquaculture, Commercial Fisherman’s Cooperative, Department of Primary Industries, d’Albora Marinas Nelson Bay, Port Stephens Council and Destination NSW, the 2017 jam-packed festival program offered even more to tempt foodies throughout August.
A festival gala dinner at Broughtons at the Bay on August 25 saw 110 people turn out to feast on a selection of Port Stephens prawns, oysters, local lobster, crab, fish and shellfish.
The menu was put together by Ludovic Poyer of The Poyer’s at Lemon Tree Passage, Ben Way from Little Beach Boathouse and Matt Keyes from Little Nel Cafe.
Each chef shared their passion for local seafood, some secrets and the inspiration for their delicious creation on the night.
Restaurants across the Port were buzzing throughout August thanks to the popular Trawler to Table series of seafood lunches and dinners.
Andrew Macdonald from Little Nel Cafe said the restaurant was packed to the rafters with locals, holiday-makers and destination-diners for a four course lunch consisting of mud crab, Kingfish and Bay prawns.
“There’s no question that being a part of Love Seafood has been a boost for our business over winter,” Mr Macdonald said.
“It’s a great opportunity to showcase our little cafe to foodies from beyond our region and the festival generates a real groundswell of goodwill among local growers and operators.”
The Fish to Dish festival lunch and dinner menus were a winner for Little Beach Boathouse, chef Ben Way said.
“Running special festival menus certainly seems to create an incentive for people to get out and try something new,” he said.
“What I love about the festival is the amount of buzz and enthusiasm it creates around the local produce.
“I was honoured to get my hands on some of the very best local seafood to showcase it to visitors to our region at the gala dinner and live demonstrations over the festival.”
The Greenhouse Eatery at Medowie embraced the festival’s ethos of celebrating the finest and freshest local harvest with a preview tasting of Yellowtail Kingfish, farmed from the waters of Port Stephens.
This was the cornerstone of its Trawler to Table signature dish series.
“We treated 80 discerning diners to an evening of surprises, starting with a first taste of the stunning, locally farmed Yellowtail Kingfish and featuring flavour bursts like faux roe made from apple and saffron, samphire foraged from the rocks off the Bogey Hole, fresh local honey in the frames, nasturtium leaves from our on-site chefs gardens and a medley of our own fresh cut herbs,” James Davidson, general manager of The Greenhouse Eatery, said.
“It was a real triumph for Medowie and Port Stephens.”
Thousands flocked to d’Albora Marina Nelson Bay for an authentic taste of the local harvest for the Farmers of the Sea event.
More than 40 local oyster growing families brought their oysters and stories to the Bay to share with festival-goers.
The knives came out for the oyster shucking competition.
Fourth generation farmer and Worimi elder Uncle John Ridgeway opened 12 oysters in 1 minute and 5 seconds.
Dean Cole of Cole Brothers Oysters in Karuah opened, cut and turned 30 oysters in 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
In all, more than 250 dozen oysters were sold and 60 dozen samples were consumed on the day.
“With so many ways to enjoy the amazing seafood unique to our region and now with the support of Destination NSW, we are well on our way to establishing Port Stephens as the premier destination in NSW for fresh seafood,” Mr Eather said.