The Crave Sydney International Food Festival presented by Citibank will be hosted in 1-31 October 2011 with its exciting line-up of superstar chefs, a spicy South American theme, and hundreds of city and regional events.

Crave is a month-long celebration of extraordinary food experiences, celebrating Sydney as a global dining destination enhanced by regional New South Wales produce and wine.

One of the festival’s signature events is the two-day World Chef Showcase where some of the biggest stars on the international culinary stage – and the next generation of chefs – share their skills and passion in intimate, interactive sessions.

World renowned chefs

World Chef Showcase will feature 35 local and international chefs, including eight from restaurants ranked on the S. Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurants list.

They include the charismatic Alex Atala from Brazil, South America’s most cutting-edge chef behind D.O.M. restaurant; Peru’s leading culinary ambassador Gaston Acurio; Daniel Patterson from Coi, San Francisco; David Chang, the toast of New York with his restaurants Momofuku SSam, and Momofuku Ko; and Argentinian Mauro Colagreco, whose restaurant Mirazur sits on the Cote d’Azur.

They will be joined by Gabrielle Hamilton (Prune restaurant, New York) who has just been named Best Chef of the Year in the prestigious James Beard awards; Los Angeles’ Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook – two of the hottest and most irreverent chefs around; and Willie Harcourt-Cooze from London, a chocolate-obsessed TV sensation who runs his own chocolate business.

Australian stars Peter Gilmore, Ben Shewry, Mark Best, Neil Perry, Dan Hong, Matt Moran and Tony Bilson are among the renowned Australian chefs adding a local flavour.

Aside from the World Chef Showcase, other signature events at the festival include the Night Noodle Markets, Barbecue Madness and Let’s Do Lunch in addition to community festivals in Greater Sydney, food tours, hands-on cooking classes and a series of 100 Mile Meals across regional NSW.