The second Spier Secret Festival is taking place at Spier wine farm from 25 – 26 October. Local and international experts on food and wine will present talks, visual presentations, workshops and tastings. A key focus will be food and wine trends, ethics, and biodynamic farming.
Part of the line-up of local speakers will be Andy Fenner, founder and owner of Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants. Having recently returned from the MAD Symposium held in Copenhagen, Fenner has agreed to share his experience. “MAD was incredible for me. To be in the same room as guys like David Chang, Alain Ducasse, Rene Redzepi, Chris Ying, Fergus Henderson and Alex Atala was pretty humbling.”
Fenner, who has played a big part in increasing awareness in terms of ethical eating and people wanting to know where their food is coming from, will share his meat mandate with the audience.
“I still don’t see myself as an expert, but I have learnt loads over the last few years and I learn a bit more every single day. I’m just going to tell my story and hopefully people will dig it.”
The rest of the conference line-up, taking place on Friday 25 October, includes:
• Marije Vogelzang (The Netherlands): The world’s most well-known (and first ever) eating designer will share her food philosophy during an hour-long presentation at the conference. She is also hosting an interactive eating experience on Friday night, exploring the ancient cooking method of baking meat and vegetables in clay. Limited tickets are sold for this dining experience.
• Lily Vanilli (UK): This London-based baker who made a name for herself with her sculptural, macabre cake creations (roadkill cake, gingerbread gravestones, marzipan beetles) and celebrity client base like Elton John and Vogue magazine will focus on the science of baking and developing your own recipes.
• Robert Sayre (USA): The Creative Director of Conflict Kitchen in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a take away restaurant famous for serving cuisine from countries with which the United States is in conflict, will discuss the ways that they use food as an enticement to opening a broader discussion with their guests.
• Sam Woulidge (SA): The Cape Town-based columnist and cookbook author will be presenting an interactive event whereby she and conference goers will explore the significance of food and memory.
• Spier’s winemaking team with Cellar Master Frans Smit, will present a unique interactive wine-blending workshop, where conference delegates will get the opportunity to create their own wine.
On Saturday 26 October, Nicolas Joly, a pioneer and leading personality of the biodynamic wine movement in France, will present an in-depth four-hour talk on the ancient art of farming – biodynamie. Joly’s Clos de la Coulée de Serrant is often mentioned as one of the world’s best dry white wines.
The Spier Secret market on Saturday is open to the public from 9:00am – 15:00pm and entry is free. The market will host some of the Western Cape’s best small producers, bakers, street food vendors, pop-up restaurants and there will be plenty of farm-style entertainment for kids. The SA Chenin Blanc Association will curate a tasting expo, showcasing the best of South Africa’s chenin blancs.
“We are delighted and proud to host the Spier Secret festival for a second time. Ethical food production and responsible tourism is important to Spier, so we look forward to the insights an event such as this presents,” says Spier’s Marketing Director, Annebelle Schreuders.
Friday’s conference tickets cost R900, Nicolas Joly’s talk costs R900 per person and Marije Vogelzang’s dinner is R650 for a three course meal and wine. Accommodation at the Spier Hotel is available at a special rate of R900 per room per night for ticket holders. All bookings for tickets and accommodation can be made at 021 809 1100 or reservations@spier.co.za.
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