Eat Drink Blog. Repeat.

Posted on 23 October, 2015

I won’t need to eat for a week after Eat Drink Blog.

Eat Drink Blog (EDB) is Australia’s sixth annual food and drink bloggers conference, where I joined foodies from around the country to eat, drink and snap our way around the nation’s capital over three days of food-fuelled fun.

Friday

After checking in to the cool and quirky QT Canberra with its political decor and views of the capital, the excitement started to build and there was a real buzz in the air about the city and what was in store for our stomachs.

Yep, there was a swing in the foyer. I suspected it might spell trouble for the night ahead.

The conference kicked off at urban village, The Hamlet, where we were hit with enough canapés (does an entire hotdog count as a canapé?) to beat down the appetite of even the most gluttonous of snap-happy foodies.

Next it was popsicle cocktails at Hopscotch, whisky, scotch and food matching at Marble and Grain and luscious ice-cream cups at Frugii to cool off after a 30ºC day.

After a nightcap and injectable doughnuts at Lucky’s (entry via a secret barber shop in the foyer of the hotel. Obvs), I collapsed into bed after discovering I was too full to ride the foyer swing.

Saturday

Day two took us to the Capital Region Farmers Market, where we watched the CIT chefs assemble a croquembouche (profiteroles for breakfast is normal right?) and proceeded to eat our way through the local produce on offer at the market.

Grabbing a sneaky pastry for the bus ride (what?! I’d only had a profiterole, two coffees and gözleme), we headed to Nishi Gallery, where Matthew Evans from Gourmet Farmer told us about his epic career in the food industry; beginning in Canberra as an apprentice chef in the 80s and taking him all over Australia and the world.

Matthew joined us for a stroll and some lunch at Westside Acton Park where we sampled more delicious food truck goodies from local businesses.

During the afternoon sessions we got some great insights from Todd Wright from Threesides Marketing on SEO, Wendy Johnson from Clarity Communications on food reviews, Tess Godkin on food styling and Alice Lau on smartphone photography and videography.

With our brains full and our stomachs dangerously close to empty, we headed to A.Baker for a fabulous feast and the announcement of the winners of the EDB6 writing and photography competitions.

I was chuffed to take out second place in the EDB6 #mybrekkiebowl food photography comp with my blueberry, fig and honey porridge jars, scoring an awesome food styling prize from Love Cereal4brekkie.

Thanks guys! Can’t wait to use my new gear for upcoming posts.

I had a good old chat with the lovely Tess after dinner and discovered that as well as sharing a love of food and photography we also have matching Cavoodles. Snap!

Sunday

I was feeling rather dusty after all the wine at dinner and a midnight Martini at Hotel Hotel with The Martini Whisperer and the lovely ladies from Megann’s Kitchen, The Divine Family Tree, Hip Cook and My Family Kitchen, so breakfast at Nishi Gallery was a godsend. 

Special thanks to the sausage and egg roll from Brat Haus and coffees from Six8 that helped me come to terms with being awake.

Sunday’s sessions were awesome, staring with an inspiring panel discussion about full time blogging, featuring the fabulous Amanda Whitley, founder of Her Canberra; prolific food bloggers, the Merrymaker Sisters; and award-winning food writer Liz Posmyk – all amazing women who have worked their butts off to get where they are and were willing to share their experiences and advice with us.

Next up, super interesting and practical presentations from the totes hilarious Carly Jacobs from Smaggle, and the impossibly energetic (Umm, I’ll have what they’re having) Merrymaker Sisters, on fitting everything in when you’re too damn busy and how to publish your own cookbook.

The pièce de résistance was a stunning lunch at The Boathouse by the Lake, where the owner and head chefs cooked for and served a small group of us (OMG, OMG) while telling us how they came up with the dishes (they’re geniuses, that’s how), and talked us through the cooking process.

I died and went to food heaven, then rolled myself onto the bus back to the hotel.

A perfect end to a fabulous weekend. It was so great to see my home town shine and showcase it’s awesome food and wine scene. It really has come such a long way over the past few years and I was filled with Canberra pride.

Big shout out to the conference organisers and major sponsor Her Canberra, who pulled together an incredible event for ridiculously good value for money. I’m looking forward to finding out where next year’s EDB will be hosted and can’t wait to put all the things I’ve learned into practice.

Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m going to get into my largest pair of stretchy pants, drink a litre of water and have a lie down.

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