A new one month food festival launches in Hamilton CBD.

A new food experience called ‘Love Bites’ is running in the city centre throughout August, with an aim to showcase the culinary creativity of Hamilton CBD’s chefs.

Organiser Vicki Ravlich-Horan of Nourish magazine said it’s a “month-long celebration of local hospitality that invites people to explore the central city one scrumptious bite at a time”.

In the first event of its kind in Hamilton, over 30 local Restaurants and Cafes in the CBD are participating, including Gothenburg, Eat Burger, Octavo and Banh Mi Caphe.

At the Love Bites launch last Thursday, a lively crowd of local media, council representatives, events teams and local and Auckland food influencers gathering at Dumpling House for the first tastings.

The restaurant was buzzing with activity as Dumpling House brought out their ‘Love Bite’ a handmade pork and prawn crispy wonton, along with a delicious platter of their top sellers including deep fried squid, spring rolls, spring onion pancakes and dumplings. 

The group then split into three teams to make their way around more than 20 restaurants over the next few hours, sampling the bites and meeting chefs.

Ravlich-Horan said the inspiration for Love Bites stems from a conversation she’s often had about highlighting the eateries in Hamilton and Waikato . She came up with the idea with Vicky Redwood, marketing manager at Hamilton central business association.

Her favourite part has been the way that the eateries have “jumped on board and been really enthusiastic” which is a great thing to see.

The event gives a chance for local chefs to showcase their talent and share their love of food and offers an opportunity for Hamilton locals to try something new and discover different eateries they may not have been to before.

For anyone wishing to get involved in this fun, tasty and new experience you can find all the participating eateries, and check out their offerings at contact the admin at Love The Centre