The Foodies’ Guide to Melbourne 2013

For more years than we care to remember we’ve set out to find, record and write about the very best places in which Melbournian’s can shop for food. And every year it’s a journey of new discoveries.

This year we travelled further, drove further, asked readers and Twitter followers for suggestions, we went to more suburbs and visited markets, shopping centers and shopping strips in the quest to find the best of the best. We also tasted more than ever; luckily this was balanced out by lots of walking!

Of course, part of the journey involves returning to all the places we have come to know and love to ensure  they are still up to scratch. It’s like visiting old friends. What makes all the months spent on the road worthwhile is getting out visiting the newcomers to the local food scene. New bakeries, green grocers, butchers, delis, cheese stores and food merchants. It’s here we see talented food lovers putting everything on the line, and taking a chance with a retail store.

One thing we have noticed is that Melbourne has definitely gone bakery crazy. We’ve discovered heaps of new places dotted across town where beautiful bread, cakes and pastries are made by hand each day. It’s these places we particularly love writing about and for this edition.

There has been an avalanche of new entries in Foodies’ Guide to Melbourne 2013 from The Cheese Cave in Toorak to Phillippa’s pretty new store in Howie Place (CBD), Provata food store in Ascot Vale and a host of others within the guides pages.

The growth in food vans is covered here too, plus children’s cooking classes, food tours, best Victorian cheeses, the explosion of boutique breweries and the best places to shop at the major shopping centers. We also look at the places where you can get all the information and equipment you’ll need to build a bee hive in your backyard.

All this plus a guide to awesome chilled coffee to beat the summer heat, the best caramels in town, plus a run-down of the best food bloggers and tweeters online, information on growing and harvesting backyard produce, a guide to seasonal ingredients and the local food and wine festivals you won’t want to miss in 2013.

As always we hope you enjoy exploring Melbourne from a Foodie’s Guide perspective.

Allan Campion and Michele Curtis

The Foodies’ Guide to Melbourne ($19.95) is available at bookstores and newsagants – also online at SBS.