“We are thrilled to bring Kita Food Festival to Sabah,” shared the festival co-founder Leisa Tyler. “Sabah’s incredible biodiversity makes it the perfect setting to celebrate not just Borneo’s flavours but all of Southeast Asia. Our aim is to foster connections between chefs, producers, and food enthusiasts, while elevating the local culinary scene and sharing it with the world,” added Tyler.
The Weekender kicks off on November 8th with a cocktail party at the ON23 Sky Bar in the Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu, where some of the city’s best bartenders will collaborate on a special menu featuring local ingredients.
Then on the 9th, a four-hands brunch at Limau and Linen will feature Linn Yong of Kota Kinabalu and Bali’s Ray Adriansyah of Locavore NXT, blending local produce with bold techniques. In the evening, Raphael Jay Peter Lee of OITOM will team up with Kuala Lumpur’s Aidan Low of Michelin-selected Akâr Dining for an extraordinary dining experience focused on seasonal, locally sourced ingredients.
The festival’s grand finale on November 10th will be the Big Sunday Barbecue at Shangri-La Tanjung Aru – a live-fire cooking event with chefs from Singapore, Penang, and Sabah, offering their unique interpretations of barbecue using local ingredients. Running alongside this is Kita Conversations, a mini-symposium featuring talks on sustainability and the future of food, with key speakers including Oliver Truesdale Jutras and Darren Teoh.
The festival is a major milestone for Sabah’s culinary scene. Julinus Jimit, CEO of the Sabah Tourism Board, highlighted the importance of this event: “This is an opportunity to showcase the depth of flavours that our land provides and tell the incredible stories of the people behind them. Sabah is known for adventure and nature tourism, but we are also becoming a destination for food lovers seeking authentic, rich culinary experiences.”
Local chef Linn Yong of Limau and Linen sees the festival as a platform for growth. “The Kota Kinabalu food scene is still young but full of potential. Kita Food Festival offers a chance for homegrown chefs to gain inspiration and bring our culinary traditions to a broader audience,” she said.
After Kota Kinabalu, the Kita Food Festival heads to Singapore for a three-month activation early next year, culminating in another Weekender event in March. The Singapore edition will feature seminars on the future of food and a stellar line-up of four-hand dinners and barbecues.
Tickets for the Kita Food Festival, Sabah, go on sale on 4th October, and with its exciting programme of events, this is a celebration of food, culture, and innovation not to be missed.
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