Tuna, Fire & Friends

Âpé is hosting Tuna, Fire & Friends on Thursday 23 July, a one-night-only four-course dinner that brings together Chef Nico Pedemonte and guest Tim Montgomery. It's part of the Newcastle Tuna & Seafood Festival, which returned this year with a Grand Opening on Sunday 28 June and has been running through July across about 30 venues on the Newcastle Seafood Trail.

The menu is built around Âpé's signature fire-led approach and Nikkei flavours—that blend of Japanese and Peruvian influences the restaurant is known for. The four courses are paired with wines from Andrew Thomas Wines of the Hunter Valley, so the local connection runs through the drinks as well as the food. It's a single-night event, not a regular menu item, so it's one of those things you have to book for specifically rather than just dropping in on a random Tuesday.

If you're out and about during the festival but can't make the full dinner, Âpé is also serving a Seafood Trail dish: the Chilean Style Local Tuna Sando, by Nicolás Pedemonte. It's panko-crumbed tuna loin on Japanese milk bread with chilena salad, avocado, Japanese kewpie and pickled red chilli—a smaller taste of the same Nikkei style that carries the main event.

The dinner is A$175 per person, with seating available from 6pm to 7.30pm at Âpé Chilean Nikkei Restaurant, The Boardwalk, Shop 3n/1 Honeysuckle Dr, Newcastle.