The Leederville Precinct is heating up to melt away Perth’s winter blues.
Described as ‘wintertime Aphrodisia’, the NOM NOM: Food, Wine and Music Festival kicks off on July 10 showcasing locally grown produce in collaboration with some of the State’s most celebrated chefs.
The Leederville Precinct’s general manager Carl Leembruggen called NOM NOM a culinary adventure that celebrated food, wine and good company.
“We wanted to do something that wasn’t your sit down, back straight, serious wine dinner,” he told PerthNow.
“We wanted to have something that was a bit more sensory. Some of the things we are doing are led by entertainment, whether that be comedy or singalong brunches.
“I’m so sick and tired of people in Perth just having the mindset of ‘oh it’s winter, we can’t do anything’ when all you need to do is wear a jacket, get into an Uber and go to your local establishment.”
Festivalgoers will be able to enjoy a range of experiential dinners prepared by local eateries including cheesemaker La Delizia Latticini, Middle Eastern wholesaler Yalla Balla, and Pemberton winery and truffle farm Below and Above.
“We’re doing a lot of collaborative efforts and progressive style lunches,” Mr Leembruggen said. “Some of the collaborative efforts feature other guests and some will be teaming up with our kitchen team to try and do something different.
“We really want to be showcasing a bandwidth of cuisine in the restaurants.”
Servo will be hosting a number of delectable delights including a boozy bottomless brunch and a four-course truffle degustation in collaboration with Below and Above.
The precinct’s executive chef Chris Bottega said the NOM NOM festival was committed to serving high quality food in a relaxed environment.
“We want our dinners to not be so formal and a lot more funner,” he said.
“I think when you go to higher end wine dinners, you get all dressed up but we want it (NOM NOM) to be more about comfort and good food.
“I think we’re really going to be giving customers a lot of knowledge about products they may not have known about, especially about local produce. One of the main things we’re trying to do is give people a lot of value during this cold winter period.”
Other weekly drawcards include Vino and Vinyl, a tribute to the legends of jazz and disco music, and skits from the Grassroots Comedy Club.
Tuesday diners can kick on afterwards to free salsa lessons taught by the Ritmo Caliente Dance Academy.
Mr Leembruggen is hoping for 30,000 attendees across the six weeks of the inaugural festival and that it expands even more in future years.
“This is something we want to keep coming back year on year and we want it to really expand,” he said. “It’s not just about our precinct and our four brands, it’s about the Leederville community and the village we’ve got here.
“We’ve got such an abundance of unique food and beverage offerings. I just encourage people to get out and come and experience it and try something new.”