My prizes for Menu for Hope V

There are more great prizes coming in day by day. I’m continually updating the list from the main post here. If you are a blogger reading this it would be great if you could post about your favorite prizes and link back – to drive traffic and get people to buy tickets.

Times are tough. But the odds are really good for winning something in this online raffle.

It costs US$10. Ten lousy dollars, for the chance to win a chance to eat and drink some of the best food and drink locally (or to have great skin in 2009). So get on down to First Giving and buy some tickets now.

Or you could check out the full global masterlist of prizes at Chez Pim.

Now, and I’m doing this topsy turvey, it’s time to spruik the prizes that I am hosting. And remember i’m continually updating the master list here.

How can you help?

All you need to do is buy a US$10 raffle ticket for prizes at First Giving or arrange for a prize to be donated and blog about it or ask the help of a friendly blogger to blog about it (I’m happy to help out). You can read more about offering prizes here. Logos to use are here.

Donation Instructions:
1. Choose a prize or prizes of your choice from our Menu for Hope at Chez Pim or here.
2. Go to the donation site at First Giving and make a donation.
3. Each US$10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. Please specify which prize you’d like in the ‘Personal Message’ section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code.
For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for AP01 and 3 tickets for AP02. Please write 2xAP01, 3xAP02
4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.
5. Please allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

The prizes

AP04: Mugaritz down under: A tasting menu with matched wines for 2 people worth $460 at the Royal Mail Hotel, Dunkeld

When I uploaded a photo of Mugaritz’s ex-head chef Dan Hunter to Flickr somebody tagged him as cute. I don’t know whether that alone makes a visit to the Royal Mail Hotel at Dunkeld in Victoria’s southern Grampians worthwhile but his food does. His food showcases the herbs, vegetables and leaves from the hotel’s extensive kitchen gardens matched with the wines selected by sommelier Lok Thornton from one of the best wine cellars in the state.
I’ve eaten there twice and both times impressed. On my last visit I ate one the of the best most aromatic truffle dishes I have ever had made with the Tasmanian Perigord variety. His flavours are pure; squid tastes of squid, for instance. And his presentation, as you’d expect, is art.
A tasting menu with matched wines for 2 people is worth $460. Available to anybody who can make the 3 hour trip from Melbourne. I’m hosting this one.

AP05: Degustation dinner for 2 with matching wines at Melbourne’s Restaurant of the Year Attica.

Attica is running hot this year having won Restaurant of the Year and Dish of the Year in The Age Good Food Guide Awards. New Zealand-born chef Ben Shewry brings real passion and innovation to this tiny kitchen that somehow consistently serves up amazing food. Much of the inspiration is drawn on Shewry’s experience, for instance a near drowning as a child or the earth. He also dives in the bay to forage for unusual ingredients which you will find nowhere else. Ben tells me that he’s stopping eating at at other restaurants and deliberately not ready the Ferran Adria books so he can forge his own way with food which is pretty cool. I’m hosting this prize. I’ve eaten at Attica three times this year (including for the Martini Monster’s birthday) and I think four last year, including for my own birthday. Available to anyone who can make the worthwhile trip to Melbourne.

AP08: Skin Saviour – his and hers worth A$219.90

Skin Saviour is skin care specially formulated by a Melbourne-based naturopath from natural plant extracts and oils for the sensitive skin-wise and planet-wise. This prize comprises a set of the woman’s products worth A$109.95 and the men’s worth the same – a total of nearly $220. It contains no animal products whatsoever and no ingredients are tested on animals. It contains, no GM products, petrochemicals, harsh soaps, hormones or known irritants. It’s softening the skin of all-sorts from upmarket builders to budding internet entrepreneurs. A must try. I’m hosting this prize and it can be delivered anywhere. Hosted by me.

AP11: 1 nights accommodation and a 3 course meal for 2 at the Provenance Restaurant in Beechworth.

Michael Ryan, ex Range in Myrtleford, has taken over the Bank in Beechworth which he has renamed Provenance Restaurant and Luxury Suites. In last year’s Good Food Guide Ryan scored two hats which means we can expect some pretty special cooking at his new place. The whole site, including the four suites at the rear of the property in the old stables, have just had an extensive refit. He is offering one night’s accommodation worth $295 and a three course meal for two worth $140.

AP20: A degustation meal for two at Libertine with matching wines worth $270.

Libertine is a charming romantic French restaurant without the beret in North Melbourne and is offering a degustation for two of eight courses, focusing on seasonal produce available on the day, including highlights from Libertine’s a la carte menu, with matching wines, valued at $270. I’ve eaten there myself this year and had a great meal but ran out of time to blog about it. The food is good but what is exceptional is the list of carefully chosen wines mainly from small French producers. Unlike some large restaurants connected to a certain casino you won’t find yourself here being charged through the nose for wines that you could by off the shelf from your local bottle shop.

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Tagged as: Menu for hope, Menu for Hope V