Paella, mulled wine, sangria, churros, flamenco, tarot reading and more. See what happened when Secret Foodies ran away with the gypsies to Spain for a night.

It seems something happens to dampen the spirits of Sydneysiders during winter. In summer everyone is out every night of the week, eating, drinking, celebrating life. Then the days get shorter, it gets a little colder and everyone seems to dissapear, hibernating for three months. But not on this watch! At Secret Foodies we like to eat, drink and party all year round and felt inspired to mix things up a bit this July.

Instead of our usual sit down dinners, we decided to host a party style cocktail event and the theme was Spanish Gypsy. A sold-out event saw guests purchase their tickets online not being aware of the secret location until two hours before. The text messages went out at 5.30pm sharp revealing warehouse space in Redfern as the destination. Arriving in their finest gypsy attire, guests looked incredible as they entered the warehouse and were given a mask.

The drinks were flowing all night thanks to our partners De Bortoli, Yalumba and Banrock Station with mulled wine and sangri both being a hit amongst our gypsies. Guests helped themselves to the grazing charcuterie table while they listened to our gypsy band and watched three giant paella’s cooking in front of everyone.

Guests were transported to the caves of Spain with the warehouse decorated in full gypsy style! There was warm, low lighting, soft candles everywhere, persian rugs, comfy cushions, skulls and ornaments around the room with guests relaxing in groups around the room. In one corned we had a colourful gypsy tent set up with a tarot reader. She was very popular amongst guests with people lining up to have their fortune read.

After paella was served guests were invited to dance. To kick things off two flamenco dancers surprised everyone with a special performance, encouraging people to join them.

Then a dessert of warm churros with chocolate sauce and delicious flan were brought out for guests to enjoy as they danced on into the night.

It was the perfect winter party full of food, drinks, live music and fun entertainment. Thank you to everyone who attended.

To see all of the pictures from the event click here.

Our next Secret Foodies event in Sydney (Christmas in July) has sold out already, but August’s first event is ‘My Big Fat Greek Feast’ and tickets are available here.

To be the first to hear about upcoming Secret Foodies events sign up here.