With the 38th annual Newtown Festival coming up the inner-west suburb will once again be witnessing the return of Newtown Locals, a collaborative program from some of the area’s best chefs, restaurateurs and brewers aimed at sharing their love and passion for the famously bohemian neighbourhood. This will be the third year for Newtown Locals, and some of the area’s newcomers will be adding their own flavours to enrich what is already a who’s who collective of Newtown food and bev heroes.
The local-minded all-star team this year includes Black Star Pastry, Bloodwood, Brewtown Newtown, Continental Delicatessen, Fleetwood Macchiato, N2 Extreme Gelato, For The Dandy in the Clos, Oscillate Wildly, Rising Sun Workshop, Sparrow & Vine, The Stinking Bishops, Young Henrys, Hartsyard, Stanbuli, Mary’s, and 212 Blu. All these businesses have put their inventive minds together and split off into groups to design five collaborative dishes to be offered exclusively at Newtown Festival, all of which will be set at the very low, low cost of $10 each with all profits heading straight to Newtown Neighbourhood Centre’s First Response, which is an emergency response service dealing with drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness and homelessness within the Inner West.
With both Dandy in the Clos and Sparrow & Vine handling the wines, Young Henrys bringing their gin, and Feetwood Macchiato stepping up with their range of house-made sodas, the drinkers will be very well taken care of. Even coffee lovers will be getting something special with a rotating barista menu that will see Brewtown, 212 Blu, and Fleetwood switching it up throughout the day based on style, provenance, and method. In terms of food, you can expect Newtown Locals to be pulling all punches, with the following collaborative dishes announced so far:
212 Blu x Continental Deli x Oscillate Wildly x Stanbuli
These four very different businesses have come together to offer some interesting kebabs, one with grilled skirt steak, red sauerkraut, and dill pickle, and the other with grilled asparagus, black bean harissa, and ricotta. There’ll also be a charcoal grilled skirt with asparagus and seasonal accompaniments.
Black Star x N2
These dessert masters will be offering an epic combo of their signatures. Blackstar’s raspberry lychee cake will be smashed through N2’s nitrogen chocolate gelato to make for the Raspberry Lychee Smash.
Bloodwood x Fleetwood Macchiato
This collaboration will lead to two different fried club sandwiches, the first with bacon steak, cheese, smoked pineapple jam, and pickles, and the second with tofu steak, cheese, smoked eggplant relish, and pickles. Both will be available with a fried egg for 2 bucks extra.
Hartsyard x Mary’s
These two legendary Newtown locals will be offering some tacos to hungry festival punters. For one, there will be a lamb barbecoa taco with oaxacan salsa (hot tomatill and tomato sauce) and queso freso where the lamb shoulder will be brined and barbecued over charcoal, pulled apart and then served in soft flour tacos. Their menu will also include a spring vegetable barbecoa taco with oaxacan salsa and queso fresco.
Rising Sun x Stinking Bishops
Hotdogs will define this collaboration, with one being a “cheesy Asian” hotdog and the other: a vegetarian smoked carrot dog.
In addition to all that food, Newtown Locals will host a t-shirt competition in the lead-up to the festival, tasking artists with creating designs to the brief of “Marriage Equality”. The winning design will be work on the backs of the Newtown Locals during the festival and will be available to purchase at the merch tent.
If you can’t wait to try some of those collab dishes head along to the (free) public preview event on Thursday 13th October from 4pm to 7pm at Young Henrys in Newtown. There’ll be free and the winner of the t-shirt competition will be announced.
Newtown Locals x Newtown Festival
Where: Camperdown Park
When: Sunday 13th November
Website: newtownfestival.org
Click HERE for our interview with some of the Newtown Locals on what to expect this year and their favourite Newtown Festival memories.
Image: Black Star Pastry’s Raspberry Lychee Cake.
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