Seafood Around Europe

Urban Restaurant & Wine Bar is hosting Seafood Around Europe on Wednesday 22 July, a one-night-only dinner that takes the European seafood tour from the kitchen to the table. It's part of the Newcastle Tuna Fest, which returned this year with a Grand Opening on Sunday 28 June and runs through July. The festival centres on the Newcastle Seafood Trail, where about 30 venues across the city each put on a signature tuna or seafood dish.

This particular night is all about European seafood and wine, and the menu is built to take you through the continent's regions. It kicks off with house-made focaccia served with whipped black garlic butter, followed by bluefin tuna tartare. From there it moves into angel hair pasta with Shark Bay crab, then a Basque-style seafood stew, a fennel and orange salad, and a preserved lemon panna cotta to finish. It's a long sequence that touches on a few different corners of Europe in one sitting.

There's also a local connection woven in: the 'Poached & Charred Tuna Steak', chef Tim Atkinson's contribution to the Newcastle Seafood Trail, is served as part of the meal. If you've been working your way through the trail all month, this is one of those spots where you can tick off a signature dish while sitting down for the full dinner.

The evening starts at 6:00pm at Urban Restaurant & Wine Bar, 143 Darby Street, Cooks Hill. It's A$95 per person, with an optional beverage pairing for another A$55 per person.