Tali Wiru, an open-air dinner overlooking Uluru, Australia, is a feast for the senses
- Run by Voyages Ayers Rock Resort, the unique fine-dining experience is spectacular
- Enjoy champagne canapés on a desert dune overlooking the sacred landmark
What is it? A four-hour fine-dining experience on an Outback desert dune that overlooks the sacred Australian Indigenous landmark of Uluru and the distant domes of Kata Tjuta. Among the sheoaks and mulga trees, a maximum of 20 guests start the evening sipping and supping on champagne and canapés as the setting sun washes pink, purple and yellow hues over the red sandstone monolith. When the sun disappears, the star-strewn desert sky steals the show.
Where is it, exactly? The dune is near the Ayers Rock Resort and the border of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, a 1,326 sq km region in the southwest corner of the Northern Territory, close to the heart of Australia. It is as remote as it gets – the nearest town of Alice Springs is 440km away and it is nearly 2,000km to the Northern Territory’s main city of Darwin. Melbourne is 2,230km away, Sydney 2,840km. The lack of facilities on the dune is something of a challenge, the food being served from a small, tarp-covered open kitchen that accommodates just two chefs.
What’s on the menu? Native ingredients – or bush tucker – inspired by the surrounding landscape and premium Australian produce (much of it coming overland from North Queensland and Western Australia) are woven into the four-course contemporary menu. Blue yabby caviar is served with clotted cream on a cuttlefish crumpet; beetroot is baked in spinifex grass and paired with goat’s cheese; buttery grilled scallops are spiked with pickled emu apple (“a cousin of the cranberry or muntrie,” according to chef); and wallaby jerky is served on crispbread topped with quandong (“a desert peach”).
The feast ends on a sweet note, with tequila and desert lime gelato dolloped on coconut parfait. “Australian bush foods aren’t overpowering flavours so we’ve got to work them a bit more, but the good thing is they’re all super foods,” says sous chef Stephen Russell. “They’re all great for you.”
Four hours is a long time if you’re bursting; what do we do if we need to “go”? There’s a toilet in a small corrugated iron building that is fitted out with a wooden stand, soy candles, fresh hand towels and hand moisturiser.