Adelaide Food Central continued our feasting tradition for the third time with Gathered Design Market at Queen’s Theatre. Gathered was open to shoppers from 10am to 4pm on the 26th and 27th October weekend. The market showcases SA designers, artisans and small business in a gorgeous space with lively atmosphere. Adelaide Food Central enjoyed a range of dishes on offer including Vietnamese street food, Sri Lankan cuisine, arancini, nuggets, gelato and baked goods.

After taking well-deserved holiday time to recharge their business and creative juices, the Grasso team were back at Gathered with their hand-rolled arancini. As always, the team achieve ideal texture with a crunchy exterior and soft, fluffy filling. Trying multiple of their unique flavours is required. We sampled their Corn, a buttery and light texture; Beetroot, a beautiful purple colour; and Pumpkin; a favourite from previous markets that still delights with cheesy and pumpkin goodness. Combined with aioli on top, or another sauce of your choosing, their arancini are bellissimo. Catch their new food truck at upcoming outdoor events or their regular stall at indoor markets.

Newcomer to Gathered Colombo Express has been running a restaurant and catering for ten years while their food truck has been attending events for the past two years. Their standout Sri Lankan food and hospitality experience made them a much-needed addition to the Gathered market, despite having a food truck so large it struggled to fit inside the food area of the Queen’s Theatre. While Colombo Express may be inspired by Singaporean, Malaysian and Indian dishes, they pride themselves on authentic Sri Lankan cuisine. Their signature dish is the Chicken and Cheese Kottu; a Sri Lankan street food dish made from shredded Godhamba roti bread, chicken, vegetables and spices. It is a delicious, creamy and crunchy dish that must be tried. Nasi Goreng – Indonesian fried rice – is also a highlight with vegetables and meat seasoned to perfection and topped with fried egg. Find them at 437 Magill Road St Morris or keep an eye out for future events.

Nugg Lyf may be a familiar name on UberEats but did you also know they run food trucks and pop up restaurants? What busy nugget lovers. Gathered attendees were lucky to have a pop up Nugg Lyf stall serving up hot chips, tater tots, sweet desserts and nuggets. Their chicken nuggets are made from 100% chicken tenderloin, nothing processed into copycat sizes. Their crispy golden nuggets shame their small and salty fast food counterparts. They offer the OG (original flavour), Cartel (Mexican) and, our favourite, Mafia coated in Italian herbs. They even have vegan nuggets. Check out their socials to live your best nugg lyf.

There’s always something new to try at Gathered regular Mời Ăn Viet Street Food. Their handmade Vegan Dumplings caught our attention this visit. The good quality dumpling wrapper and traditional vegetable filling complimented with spices, rivalled the best meat-filled dumplings. Mời ăn (please eat)!

Gourmet specialty bakery Nathan Bakes offers desserts with dietary needs in mind. Their recently opened café on Grenfell Street, serves 100% vegan and gluten free cupcakes, cookies, tartlets and more. They’ve flipped the common café ‘tax’ on plant-based milks by charging 30c for animal milk to encourage customers to try oat, coconut, rice, soy, almond or macadamia milk. Namesake head baker Nathan believes alternatives milks, especially almond milk, makes for creamier coffees. Their dietary inclusive model is on show at Gathered with a range of high-quality vegan and gluten free items that look and taste good. We treated ourselves to the Not Reece’s Pieces, a peanut butter and chocolate cupcake, but we had our eye on so many more treats.

While coffee may have been the essential reason to visit Abbots and Kinney, many were attracted to their pastries and gelato. Their scrumptious pastries were not only tasty but eye-catching. We couldn’t resist the bright yellow Passionfruit cronut – a donut-croissant hybrid – filled with passionfruit cream (and none of those bothersome seeds). It was flakey, light and buttery as all good pastries should be. We suggest cutting before eating to prevent flakey mess or wear those crumbs like a badge of honour. And for those lucky enough to be there on Saturday, you may also have seen Abbots and Kinney’s pink cart serving a variety of natural gelatos including dairy free flavours. We recommend the sweet and rich Honeycomb gelato.

TaCHs Stroopwafels once again parked their trailer-kitchen full of goodies in the Queen’s Theatre to delight Gathered attendees. The local family-owned business is known for their fresh Dutch stroopwafels baked by hand on a hot waffle iron. Every time we see them, we have to buy a few to take home to share (or keep for ourselves). TaCHs Stroopwafels also make Apple Pies disguised as muffins. They comprise apple pieces and cinnamon and make for a soft and crumbly dessert. Add strawberries, ice cream, whipped cream and your choice of syrup to make it a Grand Dessert.

We are so humbled by all the wonderful local eateries at Gathered who chatted to us and let us sample their food. Thank you for sharing your culinary skills with us and thank you Gathered founder Jenna O’Dell for inviting us into this wonderful market and choosing all these great food stalls. We hope many more will join us in indulging in all the wonderful eateries sure to be at the Christmas Gathered markets. Gathered will be in the hills for the silly season starting with Hahndorf December 13-15 and followed by Lobethal December 20-22. See you there!

Words by Chloe Cannell