Tasting Australia's CBD hub, Town Square, will return when the festival launches in late April, but you can start planning your lunch trips to the activation's new and returning vendors right now.

The printed Tasting Australia program hit streets over the weekend, and punters looking ahead to the food and drink festival are now starting to plan their lunch- and dinner-time visits to Town Square.

The activation brings a range of food experiences into the centre of the city, with vendors plating up approachable festival food truck fare for the masses.

There are many returning players in 2022, including Sunny’s Pizza, Boston Bay Smallgoods’ collaboration with Smokin’ Grillers, Chilli Shack, Fire by Soi 38, Forage Supply Co, Ragi’s Space Kitchen, Phat Head, Gang Gang and Shibui Dessert Bar.

There also a few names set to make their Tasting Australia debut.

Many of these first-timers are known entities to CityMag, so we spoke with them about what being present at Town Square means for their business, and what fans can expect when they start serving at the festival in late April.

Angler

Describe your concept and offering.
We source directly from fishers, which means we have different varieties available each week depending on what they catch. Our supply chain is extremely short; Sam (Prance-Smith, head chef) communicates with Fair Fish SA on a Sunday to get fish for that week. Fish are caught on a Monday, hand filleted, and are in our shop on a Wednesday. We are the first sustainable seafood establishment in SA.

Depending what comes in, and depending on what Sam does with it, our menu evolves each week. We do have staple items from sustainable fishers, so we have regular supply. Sam pushes boundaries with the dry ager, and again, we are the first place in SA to do that.

What makes Tasting Australia’s Town Square a good fit for your business?
It means a lot for us to be in the Town Square and showcase what fresh fish tastes like. Only seven per cent of fish caught in SA stays in SA, and with over 70 per cent of fish imported this is something we want to change. Showcasing different species available allows people to try something different. Again, not a lot of places offer different types of fish.

Angler’s salt and pepper octopus

What will be on your Town Square menu?
Our menu will consist of the classics, such as fish n chips using potatoes from SA,(cut in the shop and thrice cooked). We will also fire up the BBQ for an Angler signature of wood-fired fish, ranging from kingfish, snook, barra, leather jackets (to name a few), all being dry-aged.

What dish should first-timers start with?
First timers must try our sashimi. It is mind-blowingly different to anything you would have tasted. It is absolutely one of our signature dishes.

Hubba Hubba Hummus

Taste the rainbow

Describe your concept and offering.
Hummus is an expression of who you are – do you dip your pita, do you swirl it, or do you just grab a spoon and shovel it down?

We create platefuls of hummus with various toppings, spiced lamb with pomegranate molasses or smoky eggplant with tahini.

What makes Tasting Australia’s Town Square a good fit for your business?
We are a unique offering that is perfect for sharing with friends trying something new. What better way to experience something new than by sharing it.

What will be on your Town Square menu?
Bowls of hummus loaded with slow cooked beef, grilled chicken or sautéed mushrooms. Or you can grab a tasting plate, why not try it all.

What dish should first-timers start with?
The tasting plate would be a perfect way to experience our food for the first time. A little bit of everything.

Barrio

A selection of Barrio dishes from its Grange shopfront

Describe your concept and offering.
After spending five years in Argentina and traveling extensively through the country we (chefs Trent Lymn and Cecilia Teigeiro) had many special food moments, and one that rings loudest was the cooking of a whole lamb in Cordoba.

Using a Francis Mallmann cookbook as guide, we drove around the local area and purchased the produce directly from the farmers, to the point where we got to choose the lamb from the farmer, cheese from the cheesemonger and picked up all the vegetables from farmers on the road. We came back and cooked for over eight hours for a group of friends and family.

What can people expect from your Tasting Australia Town Square stall?
I want to show the essence of Argentine cooking. Highlighting the incredible array of unique suppliers in South Australia and utilising relationships that we’ve established over time at 2KW and Barrio. Without any doubt there will be theatre, fire, smoke and delicious smells at our stall. Handmade traditional empanadas, fried churros with locally made dulce de leche, and condiments that are simple but bring the very best of Argentine cooking, like chimichurri and salsa criolla.

What dish should first-timers start with?
Absolutely the whole lamb cooked over fire is a starting point at Barrio Town Square. Uniquely Argentine dish served with a simple chimichurri.

The Filipino Project

The stickier the better

Describe your concept and offering?
We’re doing Filipino BBQ. We’re using traditional methods of cooking Filipino dishes over live fire using South Australian produce.

What makes Tasting Australia’s Town Square a good fit for your business?
Tasting Australia’s Town Square is about experiencing food with all your senses. We believe our food does exactly that! We love cooking over live fire and experiencing food with all our senses, and we can’t wait to share Filipino flavours at Tasting Australia this year!

What will be on your Town Square menu?
We’re serving our all-time favourite, lechon pork belly, house-made longanisa sausages and Filipino BBQ Chicken just to name a few!

What dish should first-timers start with?
Definitely lechon pork belly. We travelled to the Philippines to learn how to make this dish and now people travel to us to try it. It often sells out, so a dish that you can’t go past!

CityMag also reached out to Lukoumades, who will be appearing at Tasting Australia’s Town Square for the first time, but they didn’t get back to us by deadline. You can’t go wrong with a Greek donut, though. Keep an eye out for them.