I’ve realised that when you go the big festivals every single year then you don’t experience as much change as you would like to see. Sometime’s it’s best to skip a year or 2 or 3… There were some huge differences between last year and this years’ shows in terms of the format but in terms of the vendors I saw many repeats. Some of the installations were new and interesting and the fact that the chef’s theatres were open to all was awesome. Yes, there were queues but there was plenty of space too. Sadly there was even fewer halaal vendors this year than last year. Here are some of the highlights of my visit to the show today in the form of a look post.

 

Vegan heaven. Tried some delicious cashew nut cream cheese. yummy.

Las Paletas has the most amazing gourmet artisan real fruit and dairy lollies. Very tempted at 11am but decided I had to eat some real food first.

Himalayan Rock Salt and super cheap prices and a large variety of peppers and chillies sourced from obscure places in distant lands… from Raw Decadence.

Who else grew up with this brand?

J’Something did a really down to earth Chef’s theatre.

Had an almond milk cappucino from The Portland Project which is headed by Wayne Oberholzer, 2 times SA Barista Champ. Could not tell it was almond milk.

Met the folks from Streetsmart. A programme for restaurants to get customers to participate in donating R5 as part of your total bill to helping organisations that work with street children. A really great initiative.

Tunisian Delights, a festival regular, one of the few halaal vendors. Photo source: GFWS Facebook page.

 

And Khamis Shwarmas.

When are they gonna offer us something different?

Cake Express had some decadent offerings. Couldn’t resist these cake pop lollies for my little guy.

Celeb chef Adriano Zumbo was doing some hectic plating in the chef’s theatres.

 

Giant Rhino cake that somehow I missed. Image from the GFWS facebook page.

And that’s a wrap folks. Let’s see what next year holds.