A free 12-course degustation at one of Sydney’s most inventive restaurants sounds suspiciously like something we’d use to lure you onto the internet. Except this one is completely real — and I got a sneak peek last night.
I need to start by saying two things.
One: this is genuinely free.
Two: I went along to a preview of The Feline Feast at NEL Restaurant last night, very much embracing my black-cat energy for the occasion, and it was fabulous.
And yes, I appreciate there is quite a lot to unpack here.
Because acclaimed chef Nelly Robinson has teamed up with Fancy Feast to create a one-day-only 12-course degustation for HUMANS, inspired by the launch of the new Fancy Feast Gems range.
It’s happening at NEL on Monday 2 November, with lunch and dinner sittings — and tickets cost precisely $0.
Not “free with purchase”.
Not “win a chance to attend”.
Not “here’s a complimentary canapé and then please remortgage your house for the remaining eleven courses”.
FREE free.
Yes, I ate the cat-food-inspired degustation. No, I did not eat cat food.
Important distinction.
The menu takes the rituals, flavours and general theatre behind Fancy Feast Gems and lets Nelly Robinson do what Nelly Robinson does best: turn the concept into something completely unexpected.
And the menu is wonderfully committed to the bit.
We started with The Golden Paw — silken cauliflower cheese custard with golden brioche crumbs — followed by Feline Favourite, hand-cut tuna with Davidson plum, beetroot purée and capers.
Then came A Purr-fect Peel, salmon rillette presented in a peeled-back tin with dill and rye crispbread.
I mean. Come ON.
There was also Curious Cat, a liver pâté tart with blackberry purée and gold quinoa unveiled beneath a veil of smoke, before Dinner Is Served arrived: lemon myrtle poached fish crowned with smoked potato.
And we weren’t even halfway through.
Then things got even fancier…
The second half brought Gem of the Garden, a truffled chicken croquette nestled on a bed of edible soil, followed by warm honey-glazed Fancy Milk Buns with whipped chicken-fat butter.
Yes. Chicken. Fat. Butter.
I would like a moment.
Elevated Tuna paired tuna tartare with macadamia and sorrel purée, while Chicken and Savoury Gravy arrived as roasted chicken confit breast with potato purée, wild mushrooms and mushroom cappuccino sauce.
Dessert then went full Fancy Feast.
There was Sweet Treat, a banana mousse with roasted white chocolate crumb, before The Gem Reveal — a flipped vanilla panna cotta revealed on a bed of strawberries and cream — brought the new Gems “Peel. Flip. Reveal.” ritual into human form.
And finally, Love Is In The Details: raspberry and white chocolate hearts.
Twelve courses later, I can confirm that I was extremely happy with my decision to channel black-cat energy for the evening.
So WHY is Fancy Feast feeding humans?
There is method behind the madness.
Fancy Feast Gems is a new pyramid-shaped mousse pâté topped with savoury gravy, with the packaging designed around a little “Peel. Flip. Reveal.” ritual.
The idea is to turn something cats do every single day — eat — into a slightly more special moment.
And according to research commissioned by Fancy Feast, we humans are already taking those moments rather seriously.
A YouGov survey of 1,000 Australian cat owners found 60% consider their cat the toughest food critic in the household.
Which feels less like research and more like confirmation of something every cat owner has known since approximately five minutes after bringing one home.
More than half — 55% — said mealtime is one of their most meaningful daily rituals with their cat, while 58% called it one of their favourite interactions. Another 40% regularly introduce new flavours or textures to keep things interesting.
In other words: apparently we are all running tiny degustation restaurants from our kitchens already. Our customers are just considerably hairier and leave worse reviews.
Right. Tell me how to get the FREE degustation.
This is the bit you actually need.
THE FELINE FEAST AT NEL
📍 NEL Restaurant, Sydney
📅 Monday 2 November 2026
🍽️ 12 courses
⏰ Lunch and dinner sittings
💰 Completely free
🐈 Created for cat owners and cat lovers
Bookings are open now and places are limited.
BOOK THE FREE FELINE FEAST AT NEL HERE
Having now eaten my way through the experience, my advice is not to put this one in the group chat with “should we?”and then spend four days waiting for everyone to respond.
BOOK. IT.
Because a free 12-course NEL degustation is already a fairly compelling proposition.
A free 12-course NEL degustation involving chicken-fat butter, truffles, smoke, edible soil, panna cotta, chocolate hearts and the opportunity to spend an evening embracing your inner fancy cat?
Sydney, I fear this one has our name written all over it.
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