The major draw card was the pop-up lunch offering delicious morsels from hatted chefs and TAFE commercial cookery students.

Celebrity Indigenous chef Mark Olive wowed the crowd with his culinary knowledge of spices and traditional Australian food. His flare for combining his know-how with humour while cooking up a delicious lunch was enjoyed by all who attended the day. Better known for his TV series The Outback Cafe, Mr Olive will share his passion for food with TAFE students on Tuesday. 

The lunch was cooked by a host of renowned chefs, including Mark Stone from Stones Patisserie, Mark Olive from Black Olive, Eschalot head chef Nick Gardner, local celebrity chef Dave Campbell, 2016 Celebrity Chef Scholarship winner Brent Strong, Wholy Smoked, Krio Krush and TAFE NSW renowned cookery teachers Jo McRae, Chris Clark,  Mark Chance and the Wandering Woodfired Pizza man Wes Murphy.

Human Services Tourism and Hospitality head teacher Sarah Phillis described the day as ‘amazing’.

“Today tastes amazing,” she said.

“This is a sensational event at which we have combined chefs and food from the highlands to the coast,” she said. 

Event co-organiser and TAFE NSW hospitality teacher Amanda Maynard said the event had started as a way for TAFE to showcase the services and products of industry partners but had evolved to become a whole-of-community bash. 

“It really has become an all-encompassing community event,” Ms Maynard said.

“It is still a great networking event for industry but it’s become so much more interactive for the community.”

The industry showcase is a prelude to the TAFE’s celebrity chef dinner on Tuesday night.