Best places to eat and drink this weekend in Melbourne and Victoria
A long lunch at a reborn classic pub, cocktails on the rooftop at a CBD pink party palace and a full day of Dutch delicacies — Dan Stock shares where to eat, drink and be merry this weekend.
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Whether a long lunch at a reborn classic pub, cocktails on a CBD rooftop or a full day of Dutch delicacies, here are Dan Stock’s top picks for where to eat and drink this weekend.
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FOR A LONG LUNCH
“I don’t want the Botanical to be somewhere people say was great. I want it to be somewhere that people say is great,” says the famous South Yarra hotel’s new publican Rabih Yanni.
It’s a good line, but early signs point to a reborn “Bot” becoming once again a Domain Rd hot spot.
Last seen at St Kilda’s Grosvenor Hotel, Yanni has wasted no time putting his more than two decades of experience to work in revamping the offering.
The bistro menu now has long lunch rewritten all over it, for The Bot is no stranger to call-for-another-bottle-of-Bordeaux midday meals that somehow segue into supper.
A glorious platter of seafood draped over ice — freshly picked spanner crab served in its shell, scampi sashimi, jalapeño-spiked kingfish and briny, creamy oysters — with a glass of bubbles might precede a pasta, perhaps more crab twirled around anglehair with a whack of chilli and garlic, maybe a plate of gnocchi tossed through butter and raisins and finished with ricotta salata.
A good line in big share plates keeps the mood festive, whether sumac-spiced lamb served with a mixed grain salad, or whole rock flathead with kipflers and salad, but for those who like to call “mine” on a plate there’s pork with peach and leek, chermoula-spiced spatchcock and even a burger to keep the peace.
Steaks have always been a focus both here and for Yanni and a page of in-house dry-aged cuts of various provenance and rearing make the grade today, from a grain-fed John Dee hanger through MS 7+ wagyu scotch all served with cos, fries and condiments, of course.
With that weighty wine tome filled with excellent drinking from near and France, breakfasts on the weekend and a store stacked with goods for the fridge for home, the Bot circa 2019 looks to be in good hands indeed. Make a date.
FOR A GOUDA TIME
The annual Holland Festival again returns to the Berwick Showgrounds this weekend for a day of bitterballen (croquettes), olliebollen (Dutch doughnuts) and frites with fritesaus.
Other Dutch delicacies on offer from more than 40 food stalls include kibbeling (deep-fried cod) herring, rookwurst (sausage) and, of course, stroopwafel — the thin waffles filled with caramel syrup that kids big and little alike will love.
There will be music, games and entertainment for kids, as well as a sjofelbak championship — a popular tabletop shuffle board game. Expect giant clogs, traditional songs and much more from 11am-8pm on Saturday (March 16).
FOR COCKTAILS AND DREAMS
Peaches is a two-storey pastel pink party palace that sits above CBD barbecue restaurant Cheek. They’re both from the boys behind Preston’s Dexter (home of the meat doughnut), and to get to either you’ll need to ascend Melbourne’s most Instagrammable stairs.
When the weather is fine head right to the roof, where it’s all about soaring CBD vistas and potted greenery and white-and-bright summer vibes to go with fun and fruity frosty cocktails.
Downstairs really gets its peach on, a riot of pastel pink suede booths, gold-edged terrazzo tables and giant mirror ball above the bar where a longer line of more elaborate cocktails are shaken and stirred.
They’re listed under music genres, from Disco (tall, long, vibrant) to Metal (dark, heavy and full o’ booze).
Food is a simple offering of “Peaches poultry” — a rather brilliant chicken sandwich that comes in either southern fried or cold-poached form; the former a fabulously hefty booze-sopper perfect for a late-night bite, especially teamed with a bowl of crinkle cuts to dunk in yuzu-spiked mayo.
With DJS on the decks on weekends until 3am, and not one but two Happy Hours on weekends — from 12-2 both am and pm, Peaches really is pretty in pink.
FOR A FEAST OF THE FEST
For the second weekend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival the focus turns to the regions. On Friday, almost 20 Regional World’s Longest Lunches will be held across the state — from Acheron to Nagambie to Port Fairy (tickets to many still available) — and while the Village Feast in Jindivick has been postponed until March 30 due to bushfires in the region, there’s still a heap of delicious reasons to jump in the car.
Highlights include whisky making, tasting and lunch at the Timboon Railway Shed distillery, a long lunch held in Great Western’s historic underground wine cellars on Sat, and a one-off collaboration at Pt Leo with chef Phil Wood joining with Daniel Puskas from Sydney’s Sixpenny for a six-courses of peninsula produce mixed with sin city style.
Closer to Melbourne, the Gradi Italian Festival takes over Crown Riverwalk for a full weekend of pizza, pasta and Italian colour for the whole family.
For info and bookings to all events: MFWF.com.au
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