Celebrate the art of cooking with Moonacres Cooking School. Understand, prepare and enjoy fresh, seasonal and hand-made food – experience the simple act of eating seasonally.
Learn specialist skills and crafts from artisans, farmers, local and renowned chefs and, take pleasure in the simple act of a shared table. The school is a living repository not only of food knowledge, but more importantly of food practice. The focus is on the doing, on learning by doing, on being taught by working practitioners.
Enquire with our Concierge Team about a customised group or corporate classes.
Food for Health – Eilish Maloney from The Whatif Society – Saturday 6 April
Duration: 4 Hours
Cost: $195
Eilish is an incredibly passionate foodie who we have come to love. This class is about offering an educational and inspiring evening through creativity and conversation surrounding seasonal eating. It is acknowledging and talking about where our food comes from and the part we can play.
Eilish has recently launched her own business, The What If Society, and with it a studio. Everything she offers is made by her for you. All within her circle.
It’s a food focussed cooperative, working together with local suppliers to live and educate each other on full circle living, taking from the source and returning to the source. With its main focus being zero waste.
Eilish will be joined by Phil Lavers, farmer and owner of Moonacres Farm, and they will share their experience and thoughts on sustainable farming, seasonal eating and the importance of healthy living soil to our environment.
Guests will then join Eilish around the bench to cook produce harvested from Moonacres farm and other local sustainable farmers.
Eilish Maloney
Born and bred in the heart of the Southern Highlands, Eilish’s passion and natural culinary skills surfaced early whilst working at Onesta Cucina, when just 17, where she completed her apprenticeship. She then took to city life and worked at one hatted restaurant Nomad in Surry Hills, Sydney. After 18 months at Nomad, Eilish took the plunge and purchased a one way ticket, packed her bags and set off on a solo trip around the globe, travelling through South East Asia and Europe.
Settling in London for the next 24 months, Eilish began working for the two-Michelin-starred restaurant The Ledbury, which is ranked one of the best in the world. Owned and run by a fellow Australian Brett Graham.
From London, Eilish went on to work at a pop-up one-star restaurant in South Africa, a two star restaurant in Sweden and cooked countless meals for new friends all over that side of the globe. Returning home to Australia in 2017, Eilish set her sights on fish and joined the team at Saint Peter Paddington under the watchful eye of Joshua Niland. Whilst juggling her life in Sydney, Eilish returned home to the Southern Highlands to do various pop ups; launching a summer series event based in Kangaroo Valley showcasing the local produce and talent in the region.
The conversation starts at 4pm and concludes with a dinner cooked with Eilish at 7pm.
Make the most of your time in the Highlands with an overnight stay at Moss Manor in Moss Vale.
Enquire with our Concierge Team about a customised group or corporate classes.
In Conversation – Community with Phil Lavers, Danielle Alvarez and Ronni Kahn – Saturday 8 June
Duration: 3 Hours
Cost: $75
The mission of Moonacres School for 2024 and beyond is to provide educational and inspirational learning opportunities that supports Moonacres Farm and its commitment to soil health, sustainable farming and regenerative agriculture and the health and wellbeing of our people and planet.
In this “In Conversation” we are talking with Phil Lavers owner of Moonacres Farm, Danielle Alvarez Culinary Director at the Sydney Opera House and Ronni Kahn Founder of OzHarvest and we are talking the power of community.
Here at Moonacres we are big believers in the power of food – not just to nourish us, but to bring us together, and importantly, to connect us with the planet we call home. Now, more than ever, community is at the heart of making a real difference to the health of our planet and, in turn, our own health.
Ronni Kahn AO Founder and CEO of food rescue charity OzHarvest.
Ronni is a social entrepreneur and a passionate advocate and activist, renowned for disrupting the food waste landscape in Australia. She appears regularly in national media, serves in an advisory capacity to government and is a sought-after keynote speaker. Her mission to fight food waste and feed hungry people is supported by some of the world’s finest chefs. Ronni
is an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) and was named Australian Local Hero of the Year. Her journey is the subject of a feature film, Food Fighter* and her memoir, A Repurposed Life.
Danielle Alvarez, chef, author and Culinary Director of the Sydney Opera House
Danielle is one of Australia’s most celebrated female chefs and was at the helm of Fred’s in Paddington for six years where she achieved numerous accolades. In October 2023, she published her second cookbook, Recipes for a Lifetime of Beautiful Cooking, and is a regular contributor to Good Weekend Magazine.
Phil Lavers owner and farmer of Moonacres Farm.
He and wife Lisa set about creating a farm to produce the best produce possible and that meant it would be organic and follow sustainable ethical practices. Despite some trials and failures Moonacres is now thriving. The Farm supplies some of Sydney’s and regional NSW’s best restaurants including Icebergs, Lankan Filling Station, ANTE, Fred’s, Fontana and Firedoor, sells
at several markets in the Southern Highlands, and of course provides farm fresh food to its own cafés, Moonacres Kitchen and Hearth by Moonacres as well as our school in Robertson. Phil runs Moonacres as a working example of the future of farming and is a fierce advocate for the protection of the land. He is featured in the book of Soil to Table
by The Land Gardeners.
The conversation will commence at 2 pm with homemade treats cooked at the school, teas from Pachamama and conclude with more delicious food fresh from Moonacres farm, Hearth and Kitschen.
Make the most of your time in the Highlands with an overnight stay at Moss Manor in Moss Vale.
Enquire with our Concierge Team about a customised group or corporate classes.
Understand, prepare and enjoy fresh, seasonal and hand-made food - experience the simple act of eating seasonally.
The opportunity to learn the art and craft of food, in all it's forms, is the offering of Moonacres School.