PRESS RELEASE: 19 April 6 Weeks and Counting! Ubud Food Festival LINE-UP, PROGRAM and TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE

PRESS RELEASE: 19 April 6 weeks and counting! Ubud Food Festival LINE-UP, PROGRAM and TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE

Bringing together the archipelago’s most celebrated culinary icons, leading restaurateurs from Bali’s ever-modernising food scene and world class international chefs to experience the very best in Indonesian tastes, plates and creative cuisine, the Ubud Food Festival (UFF) has today released its full line-up, program and tickets for 2016.

Returning for its second year from 27-29 May, the UFF spans high-energy live cooking demonstrations and fiery competitions, fine dining experiences created by award-winning chefs, in-depth culinary conversations on topics ranging from Indonesian food heritage t0 sustainability, plus workshops, food tours, markets, live music, film screenings, yoga and much, much, more.

Heading this year’s international culinary line-up are 2016 winner of ‘Asia’s Best Female Chef’ in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards Margarita Fores, head chef and owner of Sydney, Melbourne and now Seminyak’s MoVida restaurants Frank Camorra, head chef and owner of Singapore’s new fine-dining destination ODETTE restaurant Julien Royer (supported by CasCades Restaurant), YouTube sensation and fish-sustainability champion Bart Van Olphen and found-and-foraged chef Jessie McTavish of Melbourne’s The Kettle Black.

Straight from leading the archipelago’s food revolution the Festival is joined by the ‘ibu’ (mother) of Indonesian cuisine and much-loved TV chef Sisca Soewitomo, Indonesia’s first Michelin-star chef Mandif Warokka, food journalists Petty Elliot and Bondan Winarno, leading food diplomat William Wongso, award-winning cocktail-guru Raka Ambarawan, celebrated pastry chef Dedy Sutan and NYC-trained sate king Agung Nugroho.

The UFF will also showcase the very best of Bali’s internationally-acclaimed food scene, including Eelke Plasmeijer of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant 2016 award winner Locavore, El- Bulli trained Kevin Cherkas of Cuca, the ‘Streetfood Chef’ Will Meyrick, Room4Dessert’s NYC pastry icon Will Goldfarb, star chef of CasCades Restaurant Nic Vanderbeeken, and Mozaic’s modern French maestro, Chris Salans.

“This year, our program is centred on the theme of ‘Go Local’, enriching our understanding of Indonesia’s complex and vibrant culinary landscape: where our food comes from, the hands that cultivate it, and how it fits into the social, cultural and geographic context that surrounds it,” explains UFF Founder & Director Janet DeNeefe.

“Each of the UFF’s 60+ chefs and culinary icons have been challenged to pay tribute to this theme, whether that’s with an early morning trip to Ubud Market to source ingredients for their special event, working-side by side with Indonesian chefs to dish up a culinary- collaboration or getting inventive with hot coals and a bamboo leaf fan in front of an audience of hungry foodies,” she said.

Highlights of this year’s program include a range of events at the Festival’s Hub – Taman Kuliner – including early morning Bahasa Indonesia lessons and bubur (Balinese rice porridge), a Blue Ribbon Bali Babi (Bali heritage pig) show, a photo journey with Nigella Lawson and Bill Grainger cookbook photographer Petrina Tinslay, and a junior chef carving competition.

On the Festival’s Kitchen Stage (also at the Festival Hub, Taman Kuliner), Indonesian and international chefs will go head-to-head to plate up their best versions of sate lilit (Balinese satay), bebek (duck) and sambal-sambal (spicy sauce), as well as demonstrating how to use turmeric, ginger, lemongrass, cloves and other local ingredients to create quintessential Indonesian dishes and drinks with a modern twist.

Special events include a wood-fired suckling pig lunch served with local craft beer at Amandari, a rooftop cook-out overlooking Campuhan ridge at Bisma Eight, a nose-to-tail babi (pork) degustation at Locavore, an Ambon-meets-Amsterdam seafood feast at Casa Luna, a hand-crafted ceramics and raw food fine dining collaboration at MOKSA, wine and Indonesian food pairing at bridges, high tea with one of Ubud’s royal families at Warwick

Ibah, and the launch of the world’s first durian-cured cheese by farming cooperative Wanaprasta.

“We’re so proud that the not-for-profit Yayasan Mudra Swari Saraswati has been able to bring the UFF back not just for its second year, but also to add a depth of flavour to the program that will enrich the way we think about, talk about and experience the ever- evolving, always imaginative, super creative Indonesian food scene,” DeNeefe said. “We’re so excited for the thousands of foodies that will flock to Ubud in just six short weeks to join in the culinary extravaganza!”

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More Information:

The full line-up, program and tickets for the 2016 Ubud Food Festival (27-29 May) are now on sale via www.ubudfoodfestival.com.

Media accreditation to the event is now open, with interested journalists invited to apply via www.ubudfoodfestival.com/media/media-accreditation.

For interview opportunities, please don’t hesitate to contact our International Media Consultant, Holly Reid, at [email protected] or on +62 812 1938 3825.

High-res imagery of last year’s event can be found and downloaded via www.flickr.com/photos/ubudfoodfestival.com.