IT'S a warm summer's evening and I am stalking the streets of a picturesque market town in Dorset with my new group of friends, hoping to observe some local foodies in their natural habitat.

Forget big game - we're hunting chefs at the top of their game. Welcome to the world of the food safari.

Accompanied by our host, Lauren Casoria-Lambert, we are on a walking tour of the culinary landscape of Wimborne where we will have a three course set menu with wine at three different restaurants.

Lauren, a secondary school teacher from Ringwood launched Sole Food Safari earlier this year.

She explains: “Sole Food Safari has evolved out of years of eating out and hosting dinner parties for friends.

I have always been a foodie and I wanted to turn my passion for good food and dining into a wider shared experience.”

The evening starts at the home of Dorset's best-known Indonesian cook, Yayu Slocock. Yayu is a mother of three and author of the Simply Indonesian cookbook.

Guests are plied with glasses of a Brazilian Prosecco and some innovative canapés including poppadoms with mung beans and little baskets made from potato filled with egg mayonnaise.

The wine for the evening has been selected by husband and wife team, Lin and Don Hudswell from The Wine Crew based at Broadstone, who talk with expertise and passion about their chosen vintages while we sniff, swirl and quaff on their cue.

Each Sole Food Safari also include a mini quiz with prizes and an exclusive ‘Masterclass’ where a chef will demonstrate how your dish was prepared so you get the opportunity to ask questions and learn about local foodie secrets.

After a short introduction by Lauren, we pile into Yayu's kitchen where she gives us a demonstration of how to prepare our first course, prawn croquettes with sweet and sour chilli sauce.

Afterwards we head through to the dining room where sit at long tables which is an ideal opportunity to get to know our fellow culinary tourists. There is also a foodie competition for some prizes later.

Our next stop is Number 9, Wimborne's only two AA rosette restaurant where we are given an expert demonstration of how to prepare lobster bisque by chef Greg, before we sit down in the restaurant to enjoy a fresh meaty hake fillet served on lobster bisque which is simply superb.

For dessert we head across town to the newly opened Le Petit Prince where chef patron Michael Russell, a Cordon-bleu pastry chef who has catered for the Queen we're told, gives us an expert demo on how to make a fine apple tart. We then sit down to enjoy them with our new found foodie friends.

All in all Sole Food Safari is a novel way to discover new places to eat and drink. Lauren will only include a restaurant or café on her tour if it meets her own particular standards.

“I have eaten everywhere from cafes and small bijou eateries and at Michelin starred restaurants so I know when service is really good and I can recognise quality produce. A good food hygiene rating is obviously very important too.”

Lauren adds: “We are so fortunate that Dorset, the New Forest, Hampshire and Wiltshire has so many amazing restaurants and cafés and Sole Food Safari is all about sharing good food, promoting local produce, as well as excellent service and good value for money.”

Looking ahead, Lauren says she also hopes to support local food banks as a way of giving back to the local community.

Lauren sums up: “Sole Food Safari is a way of bringing people together. It’s also about promoting quality local produce and local businesses, and putting Dorset and the New Forest on the culinary map.”

To give you a taster of the evening, here is Greg's Recipe for Shellfish Bisque (makes for four people)

350g of shellfish (Greg used lobster)

2 medium carrots

1 onion

3 sticks of celery

1 leek

Bouquet garni

100g tomato puree

2 chopped tomatoes

200ml double cream

Juice of 1 lemon

100g of cold diced butter

Bisque: Roast the shell fish bones in hot oven. In a medium sized pan gently fry the roughly chopped vegetables until browned. Add tomato puree and cook on a low heat for five minutes. Add bouquet garni. Take bones from oven and cook to burn off the alcohol on a high heat. Add bones to pan and top up with water to just cover bones. Simmer for one hour. Strain off liquid and reduce by half, add cream and bring back to the boil. Whisk in butter and add lemon juice to taste.