I never did one for my first book, so I was keen to celebrate the 2nd book with a big bash for friends and media. I did so with a production company called Plate Up Productions, a sister company to Rapid Films, based here in Sydney. 

They are an incredible company that produces high-end TV commercials and videos. Their new wing, Plate Up - specialises in food advertising videos and TV show production. Without these guys, I wouldn't have been able to throw the party on such a scale, and I was delighted to have had their unending support.

The night was a fantastic success. About 100 people attended the party, held at a super cool and eclectic venue here in Sydney's Waterloo called Studio Neon. (SADLY CLOSED NOW IN 2023).

When I was checking out possible venues, the minute I walked into the place, I knew it was the perfect place for the launch; edgy, trendy, and funky. A nice juxtaposition of edgy and urban meets vintage and WKA styling. It reminded me of something you'd find in NYC (one of my favourite places on the planet), so I felt really at home in the space and knew, with the styling I had in mind for the night, it would all come together brilliantly.

I was helped all along the way by Leoni Milano at Plate Up, who was an incredible help, my assistant Lou Brassil and my good friend Andy Arnfield at The Gourmet Grocer Online (whom I have known now for years and who is one of my closest mates) and between the three of us we all managed to pull off a really amazing and successful night.

I decided to cover an area of the studio with all the photos from my two books going from the first to the second. Then we filled the space with old, vintage props, sumptuous flowers, hundreds of candles, and some fairy lights. The place really looked stunning and sat brilliantly within the industrial, edgy feel of Studio Neon.

The chefs at Studio Neon are incredible ~ all exceptionally experienced, and most have Michelin stars under their belts. We chose a few recipes from book 2, and they effortlessly produced them at night for all to enjoy. 

It was a nice feeling to see all your recipes being created en mass for so many people compared to the smaller numbers I am used to cooking for.

I was totally bowled over at the support I received from many food producers and suppliers in Sydney, with whom I have had the pleasure of working as a food photographer over the years. 

They all supplied me with the most fantastic array of meats, fish, wine, flowers, groceries and a load of unique products, which we put into custom-printed gorgeous WKA-printed canvas tote bags. These were given out to guests as they left the event. I received many messages saying what an incredible selection of goodies they discovered in their bags when they got home.

One of the main reasons I wanted to write this post was to thank all these people - without whom we couldn't have produced such a polished and high-end event. I am eternally grateful to them all for their involvement.

The people and companies I want to again hugely thank are:

With Plate Up Productions, I could have thrown the party to the extent we did.

Gourmet Grocer Online helped me source all the items for the goodie bags and donated a $400.00 gourmet hamper to giveaway on the night.

Salvatore Ferragamo dressed me for the night in a stunning dress and beautiful shoes.

The Artisan Press kindly printed the most beautiful letter-pressed invites.

Potteround Floral Design, thanks to Darren and the team at this local flower shop in my home suburb of Rozelle for supplying and arranging the stunning flowers on the night.

Tscharke Wine, who amazingly supplied us with some of the best wine I had had the pleasure to enjoy when I was down in the Barossa region recently. I was chuffed to have the guests drink your incredible wines. Eva and Damien, thank you again.

666 Pure Tasmanian Vodka for gifting us the cutest little baby bottles for the bags and the vodka for the cocktails on the night.

Tetsuya's who supplied me with a whole side of divine smoked trout to serve on my walnut bread canapés to all the guests

Maya Sunny Honey gifted us 100 beautiful honey bottles for the goodie bags.

Willie Smiths is a company I worked with recently in Tassie, and they kindly donated bottles of cider for the event.

Paddington Tea a small company here in Sydney that kindly supplied 100's boxes of assorted teas for the bags

Hank's Jam also supplied an array of their relishes and jams for the bags.

Herbie's Spices cooked my Smokey Beef Chilli with black beans for the event. Herbies kindly supplied me with all the chilli for the dish and for everyone to take home when making it themselves.

Barossa Heritage Pork, thanks again to my good friend Michael Wohldstadt in the Barossa for shipping up a load of his incredible hams for the party.

Darling Street Meats is THE best butcher in Sydney. Cheers again, Chris, for kindly supplying me with all the beef for the night's food.

Claudio's Seafoods at the Sydney Fish Markets, for amazingly supplying us with kilos of lobster and crab for my slider recipe, which was part of the night's menu.

Harris Farm for supplying us with all the groceries for the menu. I was thrilled to pair with these guys as I support their 'Imperfect Fruits range' – a line of fresh, delicious fruit and veggies with minor imperfections on sale for up to half the regular price. I think it's a brilliant idea as there is far too much waste in Australia when it comes to mainstream supermarkets discarding delicious fruit and veg just because they do not look perfect. You can read more about this project here.

Careme thank you so much for all the pastry you supplied for the dessert (which went down a storm!)

A Taste of Paris for supplying me with excellent bottles of their 'Milk Jam and Guerande Salted Butter' - basically a gobble-the-whole-lot-with-a-spoon-in-one-go creamy salted caramel.

GIR for shipping 100s or your colourful and handy silicone spatulas to the US. These were adored by all the guests.

Aisle 6 Industries thanks Shannon, who hand silk screen printed all the goodie bags. They looked terrific, and I carry mine to the shops all the time now.

Olsson's for gifting us with sublime truffle salt in the dinkiest little bottles and hessian bags.

Brasserie Bread,thank you for supplying all the gorgeous mini brioche buns for us to serve my sliders.

Sweet Style thank you, Leanne, for supplying me with the bamboo plates and forks to serve the food for the event.

KitchenAid thank you SO much for again super-kindly supplying me with a stand mixer to give away on the night. A company I have had a great working relationship working together since the first book was released.