Unless you’ve been living under a proverbial rock, you would have noticed that there is a movement heading back towards nature. A band of diets such as paleo, caveman, organic, raw food and the rise of the ‘superfoods’ all reflect the fact that we hunger for real food. Dietitians, nutritionalists, and health experts have long advocated us to eat raw and clean. The closer to nature, the less processed, the better it is for us. But thanks to years of consuming packaged foods, which have been designed to be convenient and addictive (or is it conveniently addictive?) have robbed our taste buds from appreciating flavours that nature has to offer. Plus, cooking fresh food is so hard, so time-consuming, and so not second nature to me than say, opening a packet of crisps. Wouldn’t you agree?

Last night, as part of the 2015 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, the Park Hyatt Melbourne’s hosted a “Crisp Cocktails & Fresh Cuisine” event.  The interactive tasting event demonstrated the fresh flavours of nature’s purest ingredients. A live oyster shucking station served up delicious and fresh oysters from New South Wale’s Batemans Bay. Unopened oysters were shucked before my eyes. It doesn’t get fresher than this! My other favourite dish was the ocean trout. The steaks were skewed, grilled, and topped with roe, nam jim dressing, fresh herbs and ground up rice: the taste of Thai on a stick!

Executive Chef of the Park Hyatt Melbourne, Dane Clouston, is passionate about fresh food. He designs each dish with the ”Food, Thoughtfully Sourced, Carefully Served‘ philosophy. Whether it’s herbs or fish, ingredients are sourced locally via sustainable practices. Food is either served raw or slow cooked to bring out their best natural flavours, whilst their nutritional content is preserved during the preparation process. Eating at the Park Hyatt Melbourne always make me feel healthier.

Cleaner cocktails are also a new trend sweeping through bars across the world. Mike, the Belvedere vodka expert was everyone’s BFF last night. Armed with a juicer, he concocted natural cocktails using just fruits, vegetable and vodka. The 3 drinks on offer were coconut water with vodka, fresh carrot and ginger juice with vodka, and Granny Smith apple juice with vodka (my favourite). No artificial flavours were added. These were the healthiest and tastiest cocktails I’ve ever sampled. Plus, they’re so simple to make: just combine 150 ml of juice with 45 ml of vodka, and you’ll be sure to impress.

Thanks to the Park Hyatt Melbourne for showing us that contrary to popular beliefs, nature has the best ingredients, and that fresh food and drinks are so simple to prepare. I’m really excited about Mike’s recipes! Now I just need to find the juicer…