Humble apple star of event

A giant Guy was lit in celebration of Guy Fawkes at Trinity Hill last night during the Bang Bang with Gemco F.A.W.C! event. Photo / Glenn Taylor

An event transforming the humble Hawke's Bay apple into a gourmet degustation is just one of 61 inventive offerings inspired by F.A.W.C!

Chef and owner of St Georges restaurant Francky Godinho looked no further than his own backyard to come up with the creative concept.

All together he will use six varieties - Rose, Mariri Red, Lemonade, Granny Smith, Royal Gala and Cider Apple as well as Paynters Cider, to whip up tonight's five-course meal.

"I am creating some tasty, lovely dishes but it was a long journey. I wanted to take the different flavours of the apples and turn it into something people could really enjoy," Mr Godinho said.

Starting with a course of pumpkin followed by salmon, quail and pork pairings, the evening will finish with toffee apple, apple crumble, caramelised apple, chocolate bark and ice cream.

Most apples were sourced from the Yummy Fruit Company, located just down the road.

"They are our neighbours, all the orchard fruits are growing around St Georges ... Hawke's Bay produces some of the finest apples in the world, we just looked out the window and we saw them."

The event was so popular it sold out, but 10 more tickets were added a couple of days ago and a lucky few are still available.

Mr Godinho would also be running a second event called Vegistation at St Georges on Sunday from 12pm. This time his entire menu was vegetarian, with much of the produce sourced from his organic garden. "It's the largest restaurant garden in Hawke's Bay, I think it's nice for people to see where we grow it."

Hawke's Bay Tourism general manager Annie Dundas was looking forward to more scrumptious offerings, following Bang Bang with Gemco at Guy F.A.W.Cs last night at Trinity Hill.

People were clambering to get tickets in the 24 hours leading up to the event which included a gourmet BBQ, fine wine, a giant Guy and roast marshmallows.

"I'm excited for Sacred Hill Chardonnay Indulgence with [wine expert] Bob Campbell and Tony Bish, it's a bit of a highlight."

fawc.co.nz