If you like saucy pasta, flaky croissants, big Greek feasts or parties with champagne towers, you’re in luck this March. Melbourne Food and Wine Festival kicks off on March 21, with a program that’ll push the buttons of all kinds of food fans. Events range from the free and fun, to the fine-dining and the forget-everything-I-must-go. Here, the Good Food team shares their must-do events from the program, with affordable and luxe options in equal measure.

Emma Breheny
Melbourne eating out and restaurant editor

Budget pick: Baker’s Dozen, March 29-30

Everywhere you turn in Melbourne, there’s a new bakery doing something special with dough. At this event, you get to try croissants, cookies, cake, scrolls and more from 16 top bakers, all in one place. Plus there’s hot cross buns with butter butlers dispensing spreads in all kinds of flavours. I can’t think of a better way to enjoy the golden age of baking we’re living through. Free entry, food for purchase

Splurge: Tram del Vino, March 30

Regrettably, I never experienced Melbourne’s tram car restaurant before it shut down, but hopping on and off the 72 tram to visit three different wine bars in Melbourne’s east may be the next best thing. What it lacks in retro kitsch, it’ll more than make up for with interesting Italian wines and first-class snacks from The Alps, Toorak Cellars and Milton Wine Shop. $150, wine tastings, snacks, pizza

Callan Boys
National eating out and restaurant editor

Budget pick: Everything is Connected: A Talk with Gut Oggau, March 23

If you don’t know Gut Oggau’s Austrian wines by name, you may know them by face. Each label features a drawing of a different made-up family member created to represent the grape juice inside (Mechthild is the single-vineyard gruner veltliner grandma; Joshuari, the complex blaufrankisch son), and the bottles are a fixture of natural wine bars from Adelaide to Austin. Winemakers Eduard and Stephanie Tscheppe are bringing the extended family to Abbotsford Convent to talk biodynamics and fermentation, and open a few bottles imported just for the event. $49, includes a glass of Gut Oggau on arrival.

Splurge: USA Whiskey Road Trip: From Washington to Vermont, March 26-27

There are few things I enjoy more than pouring an American whiskey at home and building a Lego model straight out of the box. The new Jaws set and Booker’s True Barrel Bourbon – perfect. (I also acknowledge this is the most 40-year-old-dad thing I have ever said in my life, and I’m not even a dad.) Anyway, White Oaks Saloon in Prahran is rocking a “road trip” featuring pours of five US whiskies from five different states. Utah, here we come. I might enjoy tasting different barrel finishes even more than building an Aston Martin with plastic bricks. $99, includes snacks, whiskey and one cocktail.

Roslyn Grundy
Recipe editor

Budget pick: Caterina’s Does Venetian Street Food, March 25

Freshly renovated after being flooded last year, beloved basement restaurant Caterina’s, now 30 years young, will serve favourite street snacks from Venice, such as vitello tonnato-stuffed tramezzini (soft white sandwiches) and cicchetti (small snacks). $18 (2 cicchetti and 1 tramezzino) and $30 (3 cicchetti and 2 tramezzini).

Splurge: A Long Lunch Among the Vines, March 21

Visit some of the Mornington Peninsula’s best restaurant-wineries without leaving your seat. Surrounded by grapevines at boutique hotel and winery Lancemore Lindenderry Red Hill, you’ll eat four courses using regional produce prepared by the teams from Lindenderry, Doot Doot Doot, Pt. Leo Restaurant and Avani’s Cellar Kitchen, paired with the properties’ wines. $495, lunch and matched wines.

Emily Holgate
Good Food app assistant producer

Budget pick: Dim City, March 28

Nothing beats a classic fish and chip shop dimmie. But three of the city’s top chefs – Rosheen Kaul (ex-Etta), John Rivera (Askal), and Eun Hee An (Moon Mart) – might convert even the most die-hard fans with their takes on the Melbourne-born snack. There are hundreds to give away, but be sure to get to Emporium Melbourne early. Free, until sold out.

Splurge: French Flare: Bon Ap’ at Eau de Vie, March 21

Pretend you’re in Paris for the night with an indulgent bash at CBD cocktail bar Eau de Vie that features champagne towers, a live jazz band and an absinthe tower. Canapes are in the hands of Fitzroy bistro Bon Ap’, while Eau de Vie will serve five head-turning cocktails. $275, cocktails, gourmet platters, canapes and other drinks

Andrea McGinniss
Eating in editor

Budget pick: Wildpie Party, March 29

You had me at “pie party”. But when the pies are the fabulous wild game pastries made in Beechworth by Jo Barrett, a former Age Good Food Guide Chef of the Year and all-round legend, matched with High Country drinks, you know it’s going to be a cracking night. It’s all happening at one of Footscray’s best bars, with DJs and a prime Saturday night timeslot. $36 for food only, $78 for food with matched drinks

Splurge: Nisiotika Sunday Greek Island Lunch, March 23-30

Linger over a long lunch at Richmond institution Salona. Tables will be covered with fresh seafood, seasonal vegetables and salads, and grilled meats, backed by the sounds of traditional Nisiotika music. It might be the next best thing to a glorious Greek island holiday. $150, four courses and matched drinks

Annabel Smith
Senior producer and innovation editor

Budget pick: Tacos and Toum, March 26

Did you know Mexico City’s signature tacos al pastor, cooked on a vertical spit, is adapted from Middle Eastern shawarma? Melbourne’s Taco Truck pioneer Raph Rashid will explore more crossovers in Mexican and Lebanese cooking with hummus king Tom Sarafian at this lunchtime giveaway. Expect Sarafian-branded toum (garlic dip) to feature in prawn and potato tacos de canasta, plus other snacks. Free, until sold out.

Splurge: Buschenschank: A pop-up Austro-Hungarian wine tavern, March 22-23

“When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad … I simply remember this fun buffet feast exists, and then I don’t feel so bad.” Yes, The Sound of Music soundtrack may pop into your head at this event celebrating all things Austrian. Alongside cold cuts and pretzel rolls, expect Austro bakery’s take on flammekueche (aka tarte flambee), a cheese, onion and bacon flatbread. The promise of bee sting cake and ultra-fresh wines further sweetens the deal.
$120, buffet meal with matched drinks.

Tomas Telegramma
Good Food writer

Budget pick: The Dirty Dozen Exhibition, March 21-30

Need a break from all the eating? This food-adjacent art show celebrates the street food linked to Melbourne culture, with hyper-realistic ceramic recreations of a HSP, souva, a Chiko roll and more, created by artist Kenny Pittock – and curated by food writer Richard Cornish. Free

Splurge: Dutch Rules at Archie’s Farm Restaurant & Bar, March 22. Editor’s note: this event has since been cancelled

If you’ve never tried Dutch Rules’ gins, distilled with the flavours of owner Danny Perera’s native Sri Lanka, you’re missing out. This five-course feast pairs dishes inspired by South-East Asia with knock-your-socks-off cocktails that hero this locally made gin. $225, dinner and cocktails.

Full program and more information at melbournefoodandwine.com.au