Travel tales and saucy love stories come together in a Tauranga event that is set to reignite passions for gourmet food and adventure.

Respected chef, traveller, author and irreverent Kiwi TV star Peta Mathias will share her culinary adventures at an exclusive Wonder Women event hosted by local law firm Lyon O'Neale Arnold Lawyers on July 30.

The special evening is raising money for the Cambodia Charitable Trust and follows the recent release of Peta's latest book, ‘Eat Your Heart Out'.

Peta, has carved out a successful career by combining her own love for travel, food and writing. For 12 years she presented award-winning TV shows 'Taste New Zealand, Taste Takes Off' and 'A Taste of Home' and has hosted gastronomic tours to exotic regions of France, Morocco, Spain and Asia.

She now divides her time between the South of France, teaching cooking classes in her Uzès home, and Auckland where she writes during the New Zealand summer.

Peta says her own experiences of love show how it is so often intertwined with food.

'The connection between love and food is unavoidable,” says Peta. 'One day in the 1980s in my restaurant in Paris I made a flour-less almond and chocolate torte. This became the most popular dessert I ever served in my restaurant, and I almost married someone after having eaten it.”

Lyon O'Neale Arnold director Denise Arnold says the Wonder Women speaker series is all about bringing wonderful women together to share ideas and have fun.

'Peta's colourful stories about love, food and travel are just what we all need right now. She's a wonderfully entertaining speaker and this event is one that you won't want to miss.”

Dessert with Peta Mathias is on Thursday July 30 from 6.30pm at the Tauranga Yacht Club. Guests will be treated to a glass of bubbles on arrival, dessert and refreshments from Bestow Sisterhood Organic Tea.

Tickets are $50 each and available at www.eventspronto.co.nz/peta. All proceeds from the night go to the Cambodia Charitable Trust, Lyon O'Neale Arnold's charity partner.

Peta's book will be on sale on the night with $5.00 of each book sold donated to the trust to support education initiatives in Cambodia.