On Saturday evening just over 40 guests enjoyed the culinary magic of Peppers Beach Clubs' 'Sublime' Restaurant Head Chef, Ralph Campbell and his team as they indulged themselves along the Peppers tropical north gourmet food and wine trail.

The five course degustation was matched all the way by a superb selection of wines from Fine Wine Partners and one special Queenslander from Sirromet Wines.

Each dish was produced using a whole host of local suppliers including Shannonvale Tropical Fruit Winery, Blood Orange Port Douglas, Sunset Ridge, Daintree Mountain View vanilla beans, Innisfail palm hearts and the Mt Uncle Distillery in Atherton.

The degustation opened with a dish of Innisfail palm hearts complemented with a 2012 St Hallet Riesling. The palm hearts are a very unusual texture and flavour and if you haven't heard of them before they are literally shaved from the very heart of the palm tree and with the goats cheese and hazelnut housed in a small zucchini flower it didn't just taste delicious it looked delicious too.

So the scene was set for a culinary adventure of exquisite, delicate tastes as the journey through the next four courses unfolded.  And it simply got better and more fascinating with every presentation.  

The entree was shelled mud crab dressed with chilli, finger lime, orach, mustard and red kale.  The finger lime simply burst through this dish as it hit the palate.  The 2012 Sirromet Verdelho served with this multi flavoured dish was in fact inspired by Peppers GM and host for the evening, Jeremy Nordkamp who requested a Queensland produced wine to be included in the wine list. It's always difficult for any wine to 'live' with such a heavy flavour rush as this dish delivered but this champion certainly did the job.

The main was Za'atar rolled duck livers and pressed leg of duck and the mix of textures between the liver and meat was very pleasant.  The dessert was a mouth watering blend of maple spiced Mossman pineapple, Daintree vanilla bean custard, macadamia crisp and salted popcorn.  Desserts don't get much better than that!

And finally as a special surprise or perhaps special experience is a better definition, Alan Carle from The Botanical Ark presented each diner with a small magic fruit which incredibly, when chewed,  turned a squeeze of lime into a sweet treat as if, as it's name suggests, by magic!

The accompanying selection of wines were especially chosen by Jesse Hargreaves, customer manager from the Fine Wine Partners.  Full details of the menu and wine list are set out below.

The size of the party was just right.  It gave everyone a chance to chat between courses and mingle between the tables to compare 'notes' on how everyone was enjoying the food and wine.  The Sublime Restaurant at Peppers Beach Club is an atmospheric setting alongside the huge central lagoon pool and even though the weather wasn't very kind to us, the undercover dining area kept us snug and dry and there is something about watching the warm tropical rain fall isn't there?

An evening can always be judged by the comments of the guests as they leave.  The judgements from this ensemble were unanimous as all the guests left looking forward to another chance to travel down another amazing 'Peppers Gourmet Food Trail'.

Congratulations to Head Chef, Ralph Campbell and his team....We'll be back!

Menu from the evening:

Starter

Innisfail palm heart, zucchini flowers, goats cheese and hazelnuts

Wine match: St Hallets Riesling 2012

Entree

Handpicked and shelled mud crab, chilli, finger lime, orach, mustard and red kale.

Wine match: Sirromet Verdelho 2012

Main

Za'atar rolled duck livers, pressed leg, grains, seeds and cinnamon jus

Wine match: Tamar Ridge 2010 Pinot Noir

Dessert

Maple spiced Mossman pineapple, Daintree vanilla bean custard, macadamia crisp and salted popcorn

Wine Match: Josef Chromy 'DELIKAT' SGR Riesling 2011

A little extra

Something Wicked - Chocolate mousse

Wine match: Margan Botrytis Semillon 2009