Viva Lewes Issue #157 October 2019

ON THIS MONTH: FESTIVAL
Lewes Octoberfeast
Featuring the ‘Greedy Italian’
As Lewes Octoberfeast celebrates its tenth
anniversary, its new organisers are hoping the
month-long foodie festival will be the best yet.
One of those organisers is Elisa Furci, the
founder of Caccia & Tails. And it seems the
event is in safe hands, as Elisa’s credentials include
a stint running the London Food Festival.
“When I heard the previous organisers wanted
to pass it on, I immediately said I was interested,”
she says, “then I roped in Chloe from Seven
Sisters’ Spice, Jacob from The Feature Kitchen,
and Robin the Community Chef. Ronald Dam,
who is a local Lewes resident, is helping too, so
we’re a team of five. As we’re all very busy, it’s
been quite a challenge, but we’ve managed to
pull everything together.”
One highlight of the festival is an evening with
restaurateur and BBC chef Gennaro Contaldo.
He will be ‘in conversation’ with Saturday
Kitchen’s Olly Smith at the All Saints Centre on
Saturday 19 October, after which the ‘Greedy
Italian’ will be signing copies of his new book
Pasta Perfecto. Food and drinks will be provided
by Caccia & Tails.
“We’re going to turn the All Saints Centre
into an Italian Piazza with all the right lighting
and everything,” explains Elisa, who is herself
half-Italian, with roots in Genoa. “We’ll be
transporting everyone to Italy at Aperitivo time,
when everyone sits outside with a Campari or
beer and eats plates of focaccia.”
For those in search of something more cosy, the
Inglis Hall Secret Supper Club will be opening its
doors on Fridays, Saturdays and one Sunday during
the month. Places are restricted to ten people
per evening, and hosts will include The Feature
Kitchen, Seven Sisters’ Spice, One Supper Club,
Merle’s Kitchen, Brighton restaurant Chilli Pepper,
and Caccia & Tails.
“Inglis Hall have a beautiful, fully functioning
show kitchen and dining room at their premises
at the Phoenix Works,” Elisa says. “It’s an amazing
space, and there will be different people doing
different things on different nights. Because
numbers are limited, it will feel quite intimate,
and people will be able to see the food being
prepared and to chat to the chefs.”
Some of the many other events on offer include
free pop-up wine tastings at the Riverside every
Saturday in October – see page 88 – and a Street
Food Market on Saturday 12th in Harvey’s Yard.
There’s also ‘And Everything Nice – Delightful
Desserts and Nightcaps’, which takes place on the
evenings of 11 and 12 October. “If you’ve been
to an evening event without a dessert – or you
want an extra one – you can go on to this,” Elisa
enthuses. “It means you can combine it with an
earlier event, or eat at home and then go out for
dessert. In Italy, you often have dinner at home
and then go out for ice cream. We should definitely
adopt that custom over here!” Anita Hall
lewesoctoberfeast.com
Photo of Gennaro Contaldo by Simon Burt Photgraphy
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