Art Gallery of NSW food venue tenders

Is the team from Aria making a play for The Art Gallery of NSW?

That's the hot rumour doing the rounds as Sydney food operators jockey for the gallery's culinary arts version of the Archibald Prize.

The Gallery's food venues and their sweeping vistas have attracted some high-profile tenders, including Peter McCloskey's Fresh Catering.

Fresh, the culinary heavyweight of the Sydney arts scene already involved with the Sydney Theatre Company, has impressed Sydney's art administrators, this month adding to its portfolio as the official caterer for Bell Shakespeare, which has juicy upcoming productions of The Winter's Tale and Henry V.