Well the 20th Melbourne Food and Wine Festival has been and gone. For almost three weeks locals and international visitors ate, drank, tasted, learned and got hand’s on with chefs, winemakers, bakers, cheese makers and wine experts at hundreds of events.
I was lucky to get along to quite a few events, but still only scratched the surface of what was on offer. Really enjoyed Chef Jam, an industry event where many of the top local and international chefs came along to talk, demonstrate and basically inspire a largely apprentice led audience. I was able to attend a saki dinner at Taxi Dining Room and the launch of the North East Brewers Trail – photos and info from these two events will follow on Melbourne Foodie soon. On the first Saturday of Melbourne Food and Wine Festival on a fun event titled Seafood, Boats and BBQ with The Wharf Hotel and Richmond Oysters. Full story is online here.
Once I was through BBQ’ing it was time to stroll along Yarra Promenade and get along to the festival hub. This was also home to the impressive Greenhouse by Joost. As you can see from the photos it’s an environmentally friendly approach to dining with masses of herbs grown on-site. The place was really buzzing (despite the weather), coffee was excellent and the rooftop bar offered great city views.
Last but not least I popped across to Banana alley to catch peek at the collected food vans. Lots of food on offer from curry and giant wieners to corn delights and gumbo.
The weather cleared for Sunday 4th March which made me very happy indeed as I was hosting the Food and Wine stage at the Bright and Sandy Food and Wine Festival. Over 15,000 people came along to learn about, see and taste awesome food and wine from Mat and Vanessa at Melbourne City Rooftop Honey, Prosecco Road, BBQ king Bob Hart, macaron expert Pierrick Boyer, The Pantry (Brighton), chef Walter Trupp and lots more on the day. We look forward to doing it all again next year!
