KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 — This December is shaping up to be an exciting one for foodies with the inaugural Kita Food Festival that will feature various food and drink experiences.
The brainchild of Dewakan chef Darren Teoh, it is envisioned as “a festival that highlights the best of Malaysian-based chefs, its food and its produce.”
Expect collaboration dinners with various chefs in Kuala Lumpur and Penang and master classes. He has also partnered with Leisa Tyler and Freeform’s Adrian Yap who runs Tiffin.
Tyler is a food and travel journalist with previous experience in running food events. She is also co-owner of Weeds & More that supplies vegetables, edible flowers and herbs to restaurants in Malaysia and Singapore.
Kicking off in Penang on December 3, you have events at Au Jardin and Gen. Ember Modern Bistro’s Gary Anwar from Kuala Lumpur will also bring his modern Asian cuisine together with Backdoor Bodega's cocktails to China House.
Currently, these events are available already for bookings while the Kuala Lumpur events are still pending release.
The Au Jardin dinner will be an interesting four hands collaboration between chef cum patron Kim Hock Su and Atas Modern Malaysian Eatery’s Tyson Gee. The dinner is RM432+ per person.
On December 4, Hide KL’s Shaun Ng will join Gen’s Johnson Wong to cook up an eight-course dinner showcasing local ingredients like dabai, Bentong ginger and beras Adan. The dinner will be RM528 nett per person.
The Kuala Lumpur segment of the festival stretches from December 8 to 12, It’s a packed schedule that includes various masterclasses too.
For those who can’t make it to Penang, you get a chance to taste the collaboration dinners here in KL on December 10 and 11. You also can look forward to a three-way collaboration dinner of Akår Dining with Charline and Ember Modern Bistro at Dewakan.
Japanese food lovers can experience an avant-garde Japanese dinner where Chipta11a Jack Weldie will be paired with Kikubari Jun Wong, while Lroy Lim from Willow will be partnered with Raymond Tham from Beta.
On December 12, the grand finale will be a big barbecue spearheaded by nine chefs at Tiffin at the Yard.
The masterclasses will cover various cuisines like classic French taught by Cilantro Restaurant’s Takashi Kimura, Orang Asli cooking, and Sri Lankan from Aaliya. You also have a chance to learn how to make lemon tart from chef Tan Wei Loon who was one of the members of the winning team of the World Pastry Cup.
You can also pick up skills to shake up your own cocktails with Junglebird, Zeehan Zahari and Shawn Chong, and how to appreciate natural wines. There’s also a know-how guide to pair food and wine by Wong Yin How, and how to grow your own vegetables at home by Eats, Shoots and Roots.
The event also offers a home experience where you can order an exclusive Kita and Entier bread and butter box. This will be open for bookings from December 1 and collected from December 8 to 12.
Details on Kita Food Festival can be found on https://www.kitafoodfestival.com Instagram: @kitafoodfestival Facebook: @kitafoodfestival
