Triple Booked: The Dine Out Program Clashes That Make for the Toughest Decisions

As the event submissions rolled in after we announced Dine Out , the office was abuzz – it was all we talked about. “It’s like being at a festival and your three favourite acts are on at the same time on different stages,” wrote Katya Wachtel, Broadsheet ’s editorial director.

Now, a few weeks out, that sentiment is truer than ever. A Cantonese dinner at Attenzione, or a ferment party in a Marrickville distillery? A slice of NYC’s Chinatown by the harbour, or a star Melbourne chef’s Ho Jiak takeover? Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Here are the biggest Dine Out clashes in Sydney. Events are selling out quick, so don’t deliberate too long.

Tuesday August 12

Kolkata Social’s Ahana Dutt and Fabbrica Bread Shop’s Aniruddha Bhosekar are taking you on a bakery tour of India. The bread-led set menu will include buttery chicken puffs, spicy kheema pau and cardamom-scented mawa cake for dessert – plus plenty of wine.

It clashes with the very special hosted dinner service at Neil Perry’s incoming Gran Torino. For one of its very first services, Wachtel is doing a Q&A with the celebrated chef in between courses during the family-style meal.

In the CBD, Corey Costelloe of 20 Chapel is popping into PS40 for a very special iteration of its Tuesday Takeover series – there’ll be a welcome drink and plenty of Wagyu.

Wednesday August 13

Dine Out’s hump day is truly stacked. There are parties and collab dinners that’d each be no-brainers any other time of the year. But this week you have to choose.

Will it be a cheesy party with the Studd siblings in the art-filled Ace Hotel lobby? Or maybe you want to hit The Old Fitz and slurp on the encore run of its laksa?

You could be dining in Bronte or the CBD, Marrickville or Redfern. Rosheen Kaul’s on kitchen duty at Table Manners; the condiment queen’s garlic and chive dumplings with octopus and sticky beef short ribs are ramping up the energy in the elegant, beachy dining room. Or there’s the Italy-meets-Argentina collab with Tipo’s Andreas Papadakis jetting up to cook with Alejandro Saravia in his Morena kitchen.

In the inner west, the Firepop team’s doing a dinner all about Wagyu, and the Babs team is collaborating with the Ester Spirits crew in its vibey warehouse distillery to sling zippy, snacky, briny things in their ferment party.

But what about Mimi Wong’s one-night rendezvous at Attenzione? She and Toby Stansfield are dishing up fried mochi dumplings and funky skewers, and slurpy serves of dan dan mussels with longevity noodles.

Thursday August 14

You could try your luck with the waitlist for the sold-out dinner with Danielle Alvarez at Refettorio, or you could nab a seat at Ogni, where Rashie Hasan and Sarah Tiong are resurrecting and reinventing dishes they originally made on Masterchef.

Yellow’s one-off mushroom dinner on Wednesday night sold out in record time – so the plant-powered team added another night. Over five courses, the incredible depth and complexity of fungi – from delicate to meaty – will be in the spotlight.

Wanna stay in Redfern? Drop into Ricos Tacos, where Chicago-born star chef Jonathan “Goatboy” Zaragoza will be cooking birria-style goat tacos, or wander down Cleveland Street to The Bat & Ball, which is becoming a Creole tavern for the night. Book a table for Nashville-style burgers with blueberry and fermented chilli, gumbo chicken parmies and jambalaya-inspired smoked fish lasagne alongside true Cajun picks, like shellfish boil, and salt and pepper crocodile po’ boys.

Friday August 15

Dinner With the Maestros will have you spending Friday night devouring the Pavonis’ most iconic dishes of the last 16 years – think Ormeggio’s snack selection to start, Postino Osteria’s veal saltimbocca and A’Mare’s tableside pesto.

But you could hit the city instead, finding a spot at Junda Khoo’s Ho Jiak Town Hall, where Masterchef alum and prolific cookbook author Brendan Pang and Chinese-ish author and pop-up queen Rosheen Kaul are in charge. Expect three snacks, three entrees, three shared mains and one dessert.

In Barangaroo is a slice of NYC’s Chinatown. Paul Donnelly spent time at Mr Wong before relocating to the States to open Chinese Tuxedo; he’s taking over Rekodo for three nights this Dine Out. Expect Chinese American favourites in a banquet-style meal alongside vinyl beats.

Saturday August 16

It’s party time! But will it be Kiln’s supper club with fancy snacks (sliders! Saltbush-seasoned chippies! Trout roe-topped waffles!), a wine list by Drnks and a killer soundtrack from local DJs? Or the Oltra pizza party at Bar Freda’s, where Gozneys take over the Abercrombie’s courtyard and pizzaiolo Ben Fester curates a mix of DJs? It’ll go till the wee hours – $25 entry tickets (needed from 10pm) include a slice.

Head to Chatswood from midday for Derrel’s founding chef Brendy King’s Anglo-Indian touch, which meets The Lamb Lab’s northern Chinese menu. Or to Public House Petersham for the PSGO drive-in. The PS40 team’s 1977 Bedford RV is now a moving, shaking, cocktail-making machine – and the pub is putting on pizza specials.

All tickets are available at dineout.broadsheet.com.au.