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Should I book: Ish
10 Feb 2023
10 Feb 2023
Dish Cult lets you in on the best (free) events at this year's Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.
If you weren’t quick, you probably missed out on tickets to many of the events at this year’s much anticipated edition of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. That’s no reason to cry into your double macchiato though, because we’ve got a round up of the best stuff that doesn’t need a ticket. That’s right, these events are free to enter, so just show up and be reminded as to why Melbourne is Australia’s best food city (don’t @ me, it’s true!). All of these events are at the Queen Victoria Market, which is a veritable playground for Melbourne’s food-obsessed citizens, so enjoy the festival and do your shopping at the same time. It’s a win, win.
Image credit Melbourne Food and Wine Festival
11am-8pm Saturday 2 April and 11am-5pm Sunday 3 April
Family-friendly and foodie don’t always go together but at this festival of all things pasta, you can bring the bambini safe in the knowledge that 1) all kids love pasta and 2) there’s a cheese playground. While I am not quite sure what a “cheese playground” is, I can’t wait to find out! Brought to you by That’s Amore, Victorian cheesemakers known for their excellent mozzarella, you’ll find over 20 great pasta dishes from some of the best-known Italian names in the city including Tipo 00, Marameo and Agostino. You’ll be living la dolce vita with gelato from Lygon Street’s Pidapipo, freshly piped ricotta cannoli from That’s Amore and Italian wine varietals from King Valley’s legendary Pizzini family. Toss in live music, demos and talks, not to mention a cheesy spaghetti tossed inside a 40kg wheel of Grana Padano and you’ll wish The Big Spaghetti was on every weekend.
Image credit Melbourne Food and Wine Festival
8am-7pm daily, Friday 25 March to Sunday 3 April
Yes, it’s presented in partnership with 7-Eleven, which doesn’t exactly sound promising, but the Convenient Store is stocked with snacks from some of Melbourne’s best restaurants, bakeries and food producers. We’re talking a smoked tomato tapa turned into a sorbet from Frank Camorra’s Movida, a dim sim sausage roll from Footscray pastry kings Pie Thief and beer icy poles from Beer Lane. The list of snacks is long, but time is short, so get there or miss out.
11am-5pm, Saturday 26 March and Sunday 27 March and 11am-5pm, Saturday 2 April and Sunday 3 April
Over both weekends of the festival, head to the Starwood Rising Stars event and see some of the city’s most exciting chefs whip up snacks tailor made for a selection of whisky cocktails. The talent includes Nabil Ansari from Sunda and Aru, Lorena Corso, who recently did a collab with Mister Bianco, and Scott Lord of New Quarter fame. I’m most looking forward to Rosheen Kaul, now head chef at Etta, who put out the most excellent Isol-Asian cookbook during one of Melbourne’s million lockdowns and will be showing you how to make a hot Beijing-style chicken sandwich with pickled green chilli mayonnaise and iceberg lettuce. Yum!
11am-8pm Saturday 26 March and 11am-5pm Sunday 27 March
What does Melbourne taste like? You could drive all over the city, or you could just head down to Snacktown on the corner of Queen and Victoria Streets where you’ll find dozens of delicious snacks which showcase the variety, the flavour and the ethnic diversity our city is famous for. From Filipino bagels to mackerel dumplings, Torres Strait damper to onigiri, wash it all down with great drinks and wine from Victoria’s Grampians and Pyrenees region. Drop in for a quick snack, or stay longer and enjoy the live music and festival stars on stage doing their thing. Either way, a trip to Snacktown is much cheaper than driving all over the city, especially considering the current cost of petrol!
