Whether you like food sweet or savoury, the inaugural The Great Food Festival (TGFF) will surely have something that will catch your fancy.

The new gourmet extravaganza, which runs from Sept 21 to 24, is jointly organised by Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) and event company Savour – known for its flagship casual food festival Savour.

Held at various parts of RWS spanning 215,000 sq ft, the event will feature three main sections – the dessert-centric Rollin’ Sweet Times; Star Chef Arena, with food from visiting chefs and RWS’ brigade of celebrity chefs; and Heritage Lane, with food from restaurants in Singapore.

Tickets go on sale today (www.tgff.com.sg) for the ticketed areas – Rollin’ Sweet Times and the Star Chef Arena (lunch and dinner sessions). A ticket for either the lunch or dinner session at the Star Chef Arena, as well as all-day access to Rollin’ Sweet Times, is priced at $78 ($70.20 for early birds until July 23), includes $45 in TGFF credits, and free parking. A ticket for Rollin’ Sweet Times is $22 ($19.80 for early birds). Access to Heritage Lane is free.

For baking enthusiasts, there are cake masterclasses by the likes of Instagram star bakers Julian Angel from Colombia; and Clifford Luu of Cakes by Cliff from Sydney, Australia. Classes are priced at $98 for a 90-minute baking session, limited to 20 people.

Besides the classes, Rollin’ Sweet Times features a variety of desserts from glow-in-the-dark doughnuts by Christopher The of Black Star Pastry in Australia, as well as his famous watermelon cake.

Other dessert offerings (priced from $4) are from local vendors such as Creme Maison Bakery in Prinsep Street and its unicorn cupcakes; L’Eclair by Sarah Michelle in Clemenceau Avenue and its dainty eclairs; and The Wicked Cream in South Buona Vista Road, which is showcasing gourmet marshmallows with flavours such as Speculoos caramelised cookies, roasted black sesame and sea salt gula melaka.

• BOOK IT / THE GREAT FOOD FESTIVAL

• WHERE: Various locations at Resorts World Sentosa, 8 Sentosa GatewayWHEN: Sept 21 to 24, Star Chef Arena: 11am to 3.30pm (lunch), 5.30 to 10pm (dinner); Rollin’ Sweet Times and Heritage Lane: 11am to 10pm daily

  PRICE: $78 ($70.20 for early birds until July 23) for either a lunch or dinner session at Star Chef Arena and with access to Rollin’ Sweet Times, other bundle deals with a goodie bag are also available at the same price; $22 ($19.80 for early birds until July 23) for Rollin’ Sweet Times access only; free access to Heritage Lane; $98 for the cake masterclass

At the Star Chef Arena, feast on food (priced from $10) from the integrated resort’s celebrity chefs, including Scott Webster of one-Michelin-starred Osia Steak and Seafood Grill, Cat Cora of Ocean restaurant and Sam Leong of Forest.

Chef Leong says: “Together with my fellow celebrity chefs from RWS and many top talents from around the world, we want to present not only our culinary favourites, but also to come up-close-and-personal with everybody through the series of masterclasses and live demonstration sessions.”

His offerings are Boston lobster Vietnamese roll with XO chilli sauce and sesame yuzu dressing; sous vide Norway salmon with chilli tamarind coulis; and slow- cooked beef shank with soya sauce and white radish.

Joining the star-studded event are other visiting chefs including British chefs Ben Spalding of food consultancy and catering company PuzzleProjects, and Adam Handling of The Frog restaurant; as well as American chef Kristen Kish of Top Chef fame.

The feasting does not stop there.

TGFF’s Heritage Lane showcases local restaurants such as one-Michelin-starred Labyrinth at Esplanade mall, contemporary restaurant The Rabbit Stash at Klapstar Boutique Hotel and Chinese restaurant Blue Lotus at Quayside Isle. Many of the dishes (priced from $6) will be specially created for the event.

After the four-day festival, there are still four-hand dinners – called the Connoisseur Collection – taking place on Sept 25 and 26. Expect culinary pairings such as Kish and Cora, as well as Spalding and chef Benjamin Halat of RWS’ restaurant Curate. More details will be released at a later date.

Mr Yim Choong Hing, senior vice-president of hospitality at RWS, says: “RWS takes pride in delivering unique dining experiences and events. This will be the biggest gourmet event to be held at RWS and the largest in Singapore, setting a new benchmark for food festivals in Asia.”

On the collaboration, Mr Darren Chen, 39, executive director of Savour Events, says: “We are excited for this opportunity to join hands with RWS to build the pinnacle of food festivals in Singapore, in terms of size and range of experiences.

“We share a common vision to curate one-of-a-kind gourmet experiences through TGFF, which will reinforce Singapore’s reputation as the city of choice for dining in the region.”

source: http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/desserts-masterclasses-at-the-great-food-festival