Victoria’s best food and drink adventures and courses to experience in 2019
From blindfolded dinner parties to glamping and rooftop pool parties, there’s a new wave of foodie experiences in town and beyond. These are 14 of Victoria’s most unmissable food and drink experiences.
Melb Food & Wine Festival
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From eco-friendly picnic boats to blindfolded dinner parties, there’s a new wave of foodie experiences in town (and further afield)..
As part of the Herald Sun Weekend liftout’s Hot 100 special, and in the run-up to the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival from March 8-24, we uncover 14 of Victoria’s most unmissable food and drink experiences.
VICTORIA’S HOTTEST FOODIE HOT SPOTS IN 2019
DISHES, DRINKS AND FOODS YOU MUST TRY THIS YEAR
WHERE TO EAT AT THE MELBOURNE FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL
FOODIE ADVENTURES
GOBOATS
From the canals of Copenhagen to the waterways of London and now the Yarra, Europe’s eco-friendly picnic boats have hit our shores.
Developed in Denmark, the GoBoat concept makes sailing accessible to all, with no boat licence or experience needed to operate the electric-engine 5.5m vessels that comfortably seat eight.
Explore our waterways with a picnic and see the city in a new light.
CHEFIN
In Netflix post-apocalyptic thriller Bird Box, blindfolded Sandra Bullock had to save her family. Like Bullock, see what it’s like to lose your sight with the Chefin Bird Box experience — albeit one that’s more tasty, less terrifying.
The Chefin experience consists of a private chef who’ll cook a customised menu — in your home or at a secret venue — for blindfolded diners who have to guess what’s for dinner using their other senses.
With waiters who’ll serve and clean up afterwards, Chefin promises a dinner party that’s out of the box.
CRAFT BREWERY TOURS
Take a tour of some of Melbourne’s best craft breweries thanks to Coastline Adventures. Choose from a half-day, three-brewery Collingwood tour, or the Sunday Funday tour that takes in five breweries from Collingwood to Richmond.
Learn brewing history, see the process and taste the finished product from the wonderful to the wild.
Watermelon beer, anyone?
GLAMPING AT TERINDAH
Bellarine’s Terindah Estate is offering a fine wine time in the vines and under the stars.
With sweeping views across the estate and to Port Phillip beyond, 15 glamping tents are on site offering rustic luxe accommodation in a rural retreat setting.
Grab a picnic hamper for a DIY dusk dinner, and wake to sunrise and a French breakfast basket delivered to the tent.
A night in the great outdoors never looked so good.
MELBOURNE BAR GUIDE
Pick a card, any card, and you’ll be assured of a good time.
Whatever your tipple, whether fine wine or crafty brews, the Melbourne Bar Guide has you covered.
With new and classic Melbourne wine bars in the Wine Bar Guide, and beaut beer joints in the Craft Beer Bar Guide, these portable packs of cards feature 52 of the best spots around town to get your drink on.
Give the pack a shuffle and away you go.
PLACES TO MAKE A DAY OF IT
LAKE HOUSE POOL
For more than 30 years, Daylesford’s Lake House has been where the city has escaped for fine wine and good dining.
This summer it added another compelling reason to stay overnight: a new infinity pool overlooking the lake, a sublime spot for a splash — in the pool or in a glass while lounging around.
THE GROVE GIPPSLAND
Set on 24ha with breathtaking views, The Grove offers a shared dining experience where local wines join the best local produce.
Graze your way through Gippsland across a three-course set menu at long tables.
A bar area with Chesterfields, a fire and a separate snack menu will be the spot to be in winter.
REUNION ISLAND
Jerome Borazio (Laneway Festival) has transformed a city rooftop into a pool party.
Reunion Island is a pool club at the top of Melbourne Central, where duos through to a dozen friends can splash in private plunge pools. Easey’s Burgers are on the grill, Melboure Gin Co is on G&T duty and cold Kirins are ready to drink.
Yoga and bootcamp boxing classes take care of the morning after.
SUNDAY SESSIONS AT DIRTY 3
The secret is out — Gippsland wines are great.
Head to the Dirty 3 urban cellar door in Inverloch for a crash course in all the good stuff, especially pinot noir.
Winemaker Marcus Satchell makes wines from three patches of Gippsland dirt — Berrys Creek, Tilson and Holgates Road — as well as a “Sourced by Satch” range from grapes grown across the state.
The urban tasting room, dubbed D3HQ, is a funky spot for a platter of cheese and charcuterie, a splash of something delicious, a spot of bocce and music on Sunday arvos.
FOODIE EVENTS
THE VILLAGE FEAST
The dairy farming town of Jindivick, in Gippsland, will be a food lover’s dream when The Village Feast takes over on March 16.
As part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival’s regional weekend, Shannon Martinez, from Smith & Daughters, will run the greengrocers, Victor Liong, from Lee Ho Fook, will open a Chinese restaurant, while Alejandro Saravia (Pastuso, Farmer’s Daughters) will be the butcher.
Chef/restaurateur Matt Moran will with Sue Goodwin — who runs The Jindi Caf — for a cooking collaboration to celebrate country fare, while Jaci Hicken, from Jacican cooking school in Mirboo North, will make old-school lolly bags at the milk bar.
There will be a dispensary for cocktails from Loch Distillery, a bakery with cakes by Tamsin’s Table,and a pub pouring local brews and wines.
Tickets are $25 adults (under 12s free).
HOUSE OF FOOD AND WINE
The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival’s flagship House of Food and Wine is set to transform the Malthouse Theatre into a gastronomic playground.
From March 8-11, there will be masterclasses by international and local chefs, hands-on workshops, panel discussions,and creations and cocktails from food trucks manned by some of our best restaurants.
The opening night party is a celebration of the humble chook, headed by Matt Abergel, from Hong Kong’s Yardbird, while on March 9, it’s a Canadian takeover when Montreal’s Joe Beef cooks a candlelit feast. It will be a house party with the best caterers in town.
MORE: WHY CURTIS STONE IS COMING HOME
YOUR GUIDE TO THE MELBOURNE FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL
FOOD CLASSES AND COURSES
WORKSMITH CBD
Melbourne’s first hospitality-focused co-working space is expanding, with a new Melbourne Central site scheduled to open next month.
With a stronger drinks focus than the Collingwood original, Worksmith Ella will feature a “lab” with centrifuges, dehydrators and other equipment for drinks professionals to experiment with product development, while a retail space will be available for food and drink activations and pop-ups.
Worksmith co-founder Michael Baschetta (Bar Liberty, Capitano) is also in charge of curating a new food and beverage precinct, with Charlie Carrington’s Colours by Atlas among a dozen high-calibre tenants lured to the city.
GATHER
It’s already North Fitzroy’s favourite local, but the team behind The Recreation — Mark Protheroe, Joe Durrant and Steven Nelson — have created Gather to truly connect to their community.
The subscription-based collective offers insight into the food and drink industries through excursions, masterclasses and more. Gather aims to allow the producers and makers who supply the restaurant a forum to share their skills and stories — over a good meal and glass of wine, of course.
SEDDON WINE STORE
To celebrate its 10-year anniversary, Seddon Wine Store aims to raise $10,000 for the Asylum Resource Centre over 12 months.
To that end, owners Jeremy and Suzy Honisett have created a collaborative Warm Welcome gin with Cam McKenzie from Healesville’s Four Pillars.
“The result is a citrus-forward gin with a slight savoury hint, perfect for summer drinking and for that first taste of Australian hospitality,” McKenzie says.
Other fundraising activities this year include cocktail masterclasses and tastings.