At the Food Bloggers Christmas picnic in 2009, I offered a bright and friendly red-haired girl a fruit mince pie. I didn’t know it at the time, but that girl would quickly become my business partner and one of my best friends. She had grand ambitions, and somehow I landed in her life just in time to help turn them into reality. We launched GourmetRabbit Issue 1 in March 2010. It was an amazingly successful year, with the concept of industry-written content and the unique, quirky design setting it apart.
Issue 2 “The Best Knows No Borders” is now proudly sitting on my bookshelf, 50 pages bigger than the first, with almost 140 pages of amazing recipes and articles. I designed the book cover to cover, which is what has kept me very (very very) busy over the last few months! But there’s no better feeling than finally seeing the book printed, and flicking through the pages one at a time. I’m thrilled by how it turned out, I think it’s even more beautiful than the first one.
It is absolutely packed with awesome content. There’s articles about spending a night in a restaurant kitchen by Alvin Quah from Masterchef, all about American food (it’s so much more than burgers and fries!) by Dan McGuirt from Jazz City Diner, what chefs really think of food bloggers by Josh Nicholls from Café Ish, DIY spirits by the very talented Sam Bygrave, how food and sport are connected by four of the South Sydney Rabbitohs finest players…
There’s in-depth guides to show you what to look for in both beer and saké, a chef’s guide to Turkish food and culture by Somer from Efendy in Balmain, what ‘best before’ dates really mean, Adriano Zumbo’s recipe for Regal Salmon and Raspberry macarons, a food guide written by and for Sydney locals and much, much more.
The website has also had a makeover, now GourmetRabbit.com is a free food industry noticeboard where you can catch up on all the industry goss, like which restaurant has a new chef, a new menu, a special event and much more. Subscribe to the “Bunny Bulletin” and it will be delivered to your inbox! And of course there will also be awesome monthly industry-written feature content.
GourmetRabbit Issue 2 officially launched last Tuesday night at Harts Pub in the Rocks, where articles in the book came alive with tastings and demonstrations by PR Raineri Deli, canapés by Regal King Salmon, cocktails by Sam Bygrave, an Asian grocery by Ettason and craft beer tastings by Harts. It was a delicious night with plenty to munch on and it was so nice to see that everyone is as excited as we are.
It is now available in over 1600 newsagents and book stores around Australia, so keep your eyes peeled and grab your copy! But for my awesome readers, I have two copies to give away! All you have to do is tell me who or what you would like to see in Issue 3.
It could be a particular recipe or your favourite chef, an interview or a travel story, anything! The winner will be decided on Monday 28th March and contacted via email (so make sure you fill in your email address on the comment form so I can get in touch with you!) Postage is to Australia only. Good luck!