It’s the colour of happiness, the texture of luxury and without it your artisan sourdough would just be really chewy bread. It’s butter, and it’s the core ingredient of The InterContinental’s inaugural Taste Of degustation dinner.

This isn’t your standard 50% marge spread either — it’s the velvety hand-churned marvel by Brittany expat Pierre Issa a.k.a Pepe Saya (his alter-ego), Sydney’s undisputed king of cultured dairy. InterContinental executive chefs Tamas Pamer and Julien Pouteau have called on him to star in a French-inspired menu of canapés and four courses turning the food pyramid on its head.

Get initiated into his cult of butter via Shiro Kin Wagyu beef with truffle beef pie, butter roasted airloom carrots and crisp dumpling and a kouign amann dessert using velvety mascarpone, golden apple and salted caramel ice cream. Each dish will be complemented by wines from around Australia and ambience from the hotel’s circa 1851 Treasury Building.

When the plates have been cleared you can start getting excited about the next three Taste Of dinners: WA with Marron Crayfish, Perigord Truffles by Lowes Mount Truffiere and Native Bush Tucker with Outback Pride. 

Variety might be the spice of life, but continuity is often anything but boring.

A Taste Of at The InterContinental
Cafe Opera, 117 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Dinners served from 6pm, $85 per head or $115 with matching wines
Bookings essential via 02 9240 1396

A Taste Of Artisan Butter with Pepe Saya, 25 February to 17 March
A Taste Of Western Australia with Marron Crayfish, 6 May to 26 May
A Taste Of Truffle with Lowes Mount Truffiere, 1 July to 28 July
A Taste Of Native Busg Tucker with Outabck Pride, 21 Oct to 10 Nov