The long-term acknowledged doyenne of Australia’s regional culinary scene, Alla Wolf-Tasker has amassed an impressive reputation in her 40-plus years in the Australian food industry. Among her many career highlights, is her role as founding judge for the national delicious Produce Awards. This year Wolf-Tasker introduced a personally donated annual scholarship for an outstanding Australian producer. Now the Lake House owner hopes Australia’s chefs and small scale producers will benefit from the potential development of an Institute of Gastronomy.

“The institute has the potential to raise the profile of culinary industry careers in Australia and to enhance and add exciting components to existing curricula for chefs by tapping into the enormous interest in food provenance,” she explained

Alla is hoping that subject to the business case outcomes, Daylesford and indeed Australia will have a global first in its Institute of Gastronomy, linking the Culinary profession with some of Australia’s best small-scale artisanal food producers and growers. The Gastronomic Institute is intended to be a centre for learning that ranges from studies in artisanal food production skills to regenerative agricultural practices. The Institute will create a strong collaboration between the worlds of education, agriculture, food production, hospitality and culinary tourism sectors.

The Institute of Gastronomy is an idea that took this Australian food icon three years to develop. “ It’s one of the things that is firmly in my ‘Dare to dream’ category much as Lake House was three and a half decades ago. I had done considerable research globally. It became clear that although there are some things in this arena being done really well in many different places around the world, there is no one place that successfully integrates the potential components into a big picture approach,” Alla says of her inspiration for the institution. This Institute has the potential to be a global first.

“Where better for it to happen than in Australia? We have some of the best food producers and chefs in the world. And having it in an easily accessible rural location, like Daylesford, where lay people, culinary professionals and regenerative agribusiness participants can immerse themselves into an already burgeoning and highly respected artisanal food production culture, also added to the appeal,” she continues.

Alla’s vision for the Institute includes the opportunity for culinary professionals to upskill and increase their qualifications. A fostering of artisanal skills (cheese making, butchery, sourdough baking, fermentation and the like) would be included. Agribusiness startups could be mentored. An Australian food lab would provide opportunity for research and development in culinary techniques and the development of added value gastronomic products. A ‘visiting fellow’ program could deliver experts for workshops and lecture series “And all that is merely scratching the surface of the possibilities’.

The development of The Institute of Gastronomy business case is being supported by a $120K grant from The Victoria State Government. An additional $30,000 is being provided by The William Angliss Institute which has stepped in as a principal partner in the project.