Gourmet Guide to the Grand Prix

THIS year’s Formula 1® 2018 Rolex Grand Prix is set to be bigger, better and more delicious than ever. This is how to eat your way around Melbourne’s hottest pit stop.

Group of people having drinks

THIS year’s Formula 1® 2018 Rolex Grand Prix is set to be bigger, better and more delicious than ever. This is how to eat your way around Melbourne’s hottest pit stop.

FROM the fast lane to M-Lane, this year’s Formula 1® 2018 Rolex Australian Grand Prix is set to send your senses into overdrive.

Putting Melbourne’s famed laneway culture on the grid, M-Lane – the festival’s hottest culinary circuit - will have your taste buds firing on all cylinders, with of some of the city’s best-loved wheel dealers bringing their A-game to the iconic Albert Park Grand Prix circuit.

Now in its third year, 2018's star-studded street culture precinct is a celebration of all the things that make this city great: food, coffee, music, street art and – of course – Pimm's cocktails.

The globally-inspired gastronomic line-up features food trucks of all flavour persuasions with M-Lane bringing in some of Melbourne’s biggest foodie guns. For all your burger needs, Royal Stacks will have you covered. Biggie Smalls is carving succulent kebab classics.

Grab some pizza from internationally renowned East Brunswick institution 400 Gradi or get stuck into an authentic souvlaki from Jimmy Grants, street food-child of celebrity chef George Calombaris. Copa Brazilian Grill is dishing up slow-cooked South American-style meats, straight from the churrascaria oven. Their traditional Brazilian-style pastries are also sure to be a fan favourite. You can also satisfy your seafood cravings at Twisted Fisherman, whose delicious menu features irresistible bites such as scallop bruschetta, crunchy fish sliders, lobster rolls and seafood po’boys.

Keep it fresh with a fragrant feast from Vietnamese street-food vendors, Nem ‘n’ Nem. Shiva Indian and Bites on Wheels will also be rolling in for the four-day food festival.

If you need an afternoon pick-me-up, Crepes n Coffee Co has your back with its award-winning liquid gold. Opt for a strong, espresso-based cup of Joe and, while you’re at it, treat yourself to a sweet, French-style Nutella and strawberry-stuffed crepe.

And it wouldn’t be a celebration of all things Melbourne if you couldn’t relax over a refreshing Pimm's cocktail in the garden bar.

And that’s just the beginning of the exciting M-Lane offering. Live street art and impressive installations painted onto towering 20-foot shipping containers will be another highlight of the precinct, curated for the first time by Just Another Agency and featuring some of Melbourne’s best street artists.

Admired public artist, painter and sculptor Julian Clavijo will return for a second year, joined by new artists, Elle and Resio, who will transform double-stacked shipping containers into high-rise, creative masterpieces. Betsy, a roving aerial circus stage housed inside a beautifully restored 1975 Dodge truck, will also enchant and delight festivalgoers.

And, if you got caught up in all the pre-Grand Prix excitement and run out of time to get a haircut, the pop-up barber is back for another year so stop in for a complimentary mane makeover or ‘stache style. Services are limited so, as they say, the early bird gets the beard trim.

But it’s not all delicious food and free haircuts. This year there will be entertainment galore, both on and off the track.

FoxFM RnB Fridays will be spinning classic anthems all day, while the Heineken® Village Stage is set to steal the show on Saturday with an exclusive Black Eyed Peas DJ Set feat. Apl.de.ap and Taboo and special guest Jessica Reynoso.

Sunday will see Aussie artists rock the circuit with a host of other local and international artists dropping beats all weekend.

Originally published as Gourmet Guide to the Grand Prix