The Truffle Festival is an eight-week celebration of the harvest of Black Perigord Truffle grown in the Canberra region. More than 55 participating venues across the region offer the opportunity to taste and experience the prized truffle throughout winter and Crowne Plaza Canberra’s Redsalt Restaurant is proud to be participating in this culinary adventure.

Crowne Plaza Canberra is also a proud accommodation sponsor of the Truffle Festival that runs from 21 June until the end of August. In celebration of this special season, guests are welcome to take advantage of our Stay and Dine package and make the most of their weekend truffle hunting and treating themselves to Redsalt’s flavoursome Truffle menu.

Our Stay and Dine Package includes:

• Overnight stay for 2 adults
• Fullbuffet breakfast
• $100 F&B credit per every 2 nights of stay

[book_now title=”Book Now” href=”https://www.crowneplaza.com/redirect?path=hd&brandCode=cp&localeCode=en&hotelCode=CBRBS&rateCode=IKSAD&_PMID=99502222&cm_mmc=Paid_Search-_-CPCNB-_-Microsite_Landing page__Stay & Dine”]

*Clicking the BOOK NOW button above will direct you to the Crowne Plaza Canberra booking portal. Your Stay and Dine package will be pre-populated once you have entered your dates of stay.

Guests can use their $100 credit at Redsalt restaurant and choose to dine from our a-la-carte menu or our seasonal Truffle infused menu (available from 24 June) – choose from 2 or 3 courses of gorgeously plated truffle dishes and immerse yourself in the grandeur of this exquisite delicacy.

Our talented Chef Prasantha Giragama has set out on a journey to source truffles of the highest quality locally and has found our perfect grower – the French Black Truffles of Canberra.

About French Black Truffles of Canberra.

Based in the picturesque Majura Valley, and only 15 – 20 minutes away from Crowne Plaza Canberra, French Black Truffles of Canberra is a locally-owned family business that has fast become an internationally recognised gourmet experience. They currently supply the region’s top restaurants and local fresh food markets with the finest quality truffles and we are proud to be working with them.

Meet Jayson Mesman, farm manager and dog trainer.

Spending the day on the farm with Jayson Mesman, the truffle dog trainer and manager of the farm, was a fun filled and educational day. Jayson has an abundance of knowledge and history on all things truffles.

Jayson has been working with dogs since 2003 when he joined the government as a Detector Dog handler. While working in this role, Jayson rescued a 6 month black Labrador he named Samson. In 2007, The Wine & Truffle Company in Western Australia contacted Jayson and he began training Samson as a truffle dog. Samson was not even 12 months old when, on his first day out in the trufferie, he found 4 kg of truffle in just 10 minutes.

When Jayson moved back to Canberra in 2009, he noticed a truffle farm (French Black Truffles of Canberra) down the road from his office. He approached the owner, Sherry Mcardle-English, to ask whether she had any truffle dogs currently working for her. Sherry said she already had a truffle dog on the farm and would not need any other dogs. Jayson offered to do an hour of work for Sherry for free. Samson found more truffle in that hour than Sherry’s other dog had found in the entire season. Needless to say Jayson was hired and he is now the main keeper of the farm and dogs.

Jayson has worked on the French Black Truffles of Canberra farm for six years and became the manager of the farm this year. Jayson rescued another four dogs since rescuing Samson in 2007, and last year bought and trained the farm’s first truffle pigs, Winnie and Piglet.

Facts about Truffle Hunting

Did you know that the biggest challenge with truffles is that they grow underground, attached to the roots of trees? To find them, truffle hunters traditionally used pigs, whose natural instinct for rooting behaviour helped hunters locate the fancy fungi. But in reality, pigs have long been out of favour for hunting truffles and in recent times, dogs have surpassed pigs in the hunting process – a few key reasons are that dogs have more stamina than your average porker, they’re easier to train and are less likely to try to eat the truffle once they find it.

If you find this interesting and want to find out more, our friendly staff at Crowne Plaza Canberra can provide you with further information for visits to the French Black Truffles – join one of their truffle hunts and experience everything you need to know about truffles.

Meet the Canberra Truffle team:

What you might find interesting also is that there are 6 dogs that work on the property 5 belong to Jayson Mesman, the owner and trainer of Samson the Black, Simba, Nala and Willow the chocolate labradors and Bear he is truffle Security (German Shepherd) and the two Pigs Winnie and Piglet.

Crowne Plaza Canberra welcomes you to this exciting culinary season and happy truffle hunting.