NEWSLETTER

Dear friends,

I’m writing this from the Italian High Country Safari in Victoria where we’ve spent glorious sunny days having lunch by the river – complete with tables and chairs and full waiter service! Plus cooking demonstrations from a talented mother and son – Patrizia and Anthony Simone – their lunch voted meal of the trip but with very stiff competition from the Sardinian banquet at the Tearooms at Yarck, the long lunch at Provenance in Beechworth and dinner at Rinaldo’s in Wangaratta.

We’ve just wrapped up another glorious Gourmet Safaris bocce championship accompanied by the Dal Zotto prosecco and antipasto platters, followed by one of the great lunches of the world...what joy it is to introduce people who love and enjoy food to the people producing it and creating delicious flavours...or finding delicious flavours. We spent a fun morning in the pine forests around Myrtleford foraging for mushrooms with the “king of fungi” Angelo Bonnaci, his wife Mary, daughter Franca and her family. Franca is one of my great “finds”, born into a food- loving family and keeping traditions going. Plus her love and knowledge of the region is unsurpassed and she is now sharing that with our groups as guide to this lovely safari. That’s Franca second from the left in the photo above.


Each day was magic...here is what our guests thought:

“10 out of 10..the food was awesome...loved the entire trip, so glad my wife sent me on it” Clint Dallow.

“The standout was feeling like part of a family the whole week, meeting the families in the region who welcomed us with such open arms and being able to learn new things and open our minds up to news ways of living and eating.” Vaiju Deb and James Robinson

“A wonderful unique, unique food adventure and a great holiday, well organised and very relaxing” Stella O’Donnell

Another glorious year ahead of us...

And some new safaris to interest you...we will have dates for these scheduled in the next few weeks. In the meantime, the bulk of the first half of next year is up on the website, ready for bookings!

Bread Safari to some of the top bread-makers across the cuisines in Sydney. Its an early start to the day but worth getting up early to experience the behind the scenes action...and nothing beats that aroma of freshly baked bread!

Sri Lankan Safari – one of the hot hot cuisines right now – and we’re not talking chilli hot. Our friend Peter Kuruvita’s beautiful new show just starting on SBS Television on Thursday nights brings the focus to this fresh delicious cuisine.

Flavours of the World - A new multi-cuisine safari on wheels that will cover vibrant Fairfield and Canley Vale with a coffee to start and some exotic ice-cream to finish...

Banquets – some favourites and a couple of new safaris – we will explore autumn flavours with the clever Cipri family at their lovely restaurant, Cipri Italian in Paddington, enjoy a truffle inspired feast at our friends in the Rocks in the stylish Baroque Restaurant and girls – the best night out of the year – our special Girls Only Dinner on Sunday evening 26th February – a night of treats and delicious fun.

• Dates and more information on these new tours is to come. We'll let you know once the details are finalised.

Click here for the Sydney Safaris page on our website or here for a copy of the program. Bookings can be made on-line or by calling 02 8969 6555. Check the website as we add additional tours and dates.

In March we’ll transport you to the delights of beautiful Vietnam to visit our many friends who open their cuisine and their culture ...we can also pamper the girls on our 2 resort/5 spa treatment Gorgeous Vietnam with retail therapy and many lovely inclusions...

In late March we are being kissed on both cheeks and welcomed into to private estates of the Italian families who all live in the King Ovens and Kiewa Valleys of Alpine Victoria on our Victorian High Country safari...a perfect week away from the world at a perfect time of year.


In June Maeve and guides Liz Kaydos and chef Pietro Porcu will take our first group to explore the incredible scenery and strong culinary traditions of Sardinia and Corsica – the wild beautiful Mediterranean islands that sing with clean flavours and are full of tradition. Itinerary and pricing available soon. Please email us if you would like to receive more information.

In July a little rest and relaxation for the girls as Maeve takes you to Broome to enjoy the wonderful natural phenomenon The Staircase to the Moon, plus many exquisite sunsets, camel rides, dinners under the stars, spa treatments, pearls and princess treatment

In September our Greek island safari visits 4 special islands who treat us like visiting royalty, showing off true Hellenic hospitality and spectacular regional cooking, ripe figs on the trees, hands on cooking, even dancing to the bouzouki in local tavernas, swimming in that heavenly blue water.

Also in September, we head back to Vietnam for Gourmet and Gorgeous safaris.

In November we will take you to the wilds of Kangaroo Island to explore some of the produce of this pristine environment and the many clever producers there.

We are being featured on the Getaway Program on Channel 9, 5.30pm on Saturday 19th November. This is a wonderful safari – they show just a small part of including our friends at Gima Emporium and Real Turkish Delight.

We’ve just hosted a trip in October which had brilliant sunshine and loads of wonderful experiences....and I LOVE people taking great pictures and writing up their trips – have a read of Tania's on My Kitchen Stories.

Monday: “You are 1 minute late”,  the well groomed girl at the Jetstar counter said to me at 6.01am “and I can’t allow you on”. Those words filled me with despair, and I shed a few tears before setting about getting to my destination.

I was supposed to be meeting up with my group from Maeve O’Meara's ‘Gourmet Safaris’. I would now miss the 12 pm meeting with Liz Kaydos our tour leader in Adelaide and therefore the 1.5 hour bus journey to Cape Jervis, a lovely lunch and the ferry to the luxury beach houses at Emu Bay on Kangaroo Islands’ east coast. All you have to do is get yourself to Adelaide and they will take care of the rest.  Each year a smallish group travels to the Island to sample local produce and meet producers who are passionate and quite entertaining!...... Click on the following links for Part 1 & Part 2
or click on http://mykitchenstories.com.au/

Our recent guest Peter Sullivan was also motivated to write up his thoughts on our new walking tour of Eastwood and lunch – here is his report:

Gourmet Food Safari comes to Eastwood
Maeve O’Meara, well known from SBS television’s “Food Lover’s Guide to” and ‘Food Safari” has now started taking walking tours around Eastwood sampling our local Korean restaurants, food stores and shopping outlets. Her last tour was on Saturday October 29, when Maeve, together with Korean cooking teacher Heather Jeong, took 20 foodies from all around….

Read more>> http://www.eastwoodchamber.com.au/news/

Our travel agents of 10 years Port to Port Travel is moving to the Gold Coast. Our friends Julie and AnnLouise are going for a better work life balance on the Gold Coast. We wish them sunshine and happiness in their new lives and thanks for many years of bookings and care of our guests. They will still be operating as Travelscene Port to Port Travel and contact number is toll free 1800 677 263.


If you’re interested in travelling with us in Australia or internationally, please contact our office by phone 02 8969 6555 or email - info@gourmetsafaris.com.au

Another movement is our warm wonderful Gorgeous safari guide Mandy Amos who has been so entranced with Vietnam she is moving to Hoi An for a few months – we are so pleased to have sparked a great quantum life leap...and great for us to have a guide who lives in the place we visit.

We are so blessed to have many great photographers come and do our safaris. These were photos taken by the lovely May Chung at yesterdays French Food Safari Sweets Class at Patisse featuring Vincent Gadan, famous for his exceptional raspberry souffle seen on our show. They make you hungry! Thanks so much May.

If you have photos of our safaris, do please send them to us...they are such a terrific record of what we do.

Don’t forget our Gift Vouchers for Christmas presents! Buy on line or contact our office on 02 8969 6555

Happy eating and exploring,

Maeve