Melbourne Food & Wine Festival returns this Friday, March 24  to Thursday, April 2, 2023, with many exciting new additions to the menu.

Every year, the annual festival attracts serious culinary talent from across the globe, and this year is no different, with special events by Curtis Stone, Jeremy Chan, Danny Bowien, Yoshihiro Imai, and more.

Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Creative Director Pat Nourse said: “Whether you’re coming from the other side of the globe or just the other side of town, there’s never been a better – or tastier – time to give yourself a big serve of Melbourne good times.”

Here’s a rundown of the program highlights.

Baker’s Dozen
Celebrate the city’s finest croissants, cakes, pastries and more at this giant bake sale held at Fed Square from Saturday, April 1 – Sunday, April 2. The city will expand its doughlicious offerings with stalls by Lune, Baker Bleu, All Are Welcome, Tarts Anon, and more.

Celebrity Sausage
Snag yourself a star quality sausage sanga at Celebrity Sausage, also held at Fed Square on Saturday, April 1 – Sunday, April 2. The new event will see top performers like Chrissie Swan, Virginia Trioli, Rhys Nicholson and Christian Petracca, create their dream sausage sizzle for you to try.

Ikoyi x Vue de monde
Two Michelin-starred restaurant Ikoyi will make its MFWF debut at Vue de monde from Wednesday, March 29 – Thursday, March 30. The London-based fine diner, which also features on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, will dish up a 10-course tasting menu that includes jollof rice with crab custard and plantain with smoked scotch bonnet sauce. Tickets are priced at $350 per person.

Gwen x Grace by Curtis Stone Events
Star chef Curtis Stone will bring a taste of his LA restaurant Gwen to Richmond. This event will showcase some of Gwen’s most popular dishes along with an unveiling of Curtis’ brand new event space, Grace.  Held Thursday, March 20 at 6:30pm. Tickets are priced at $295 per person and include matched beverages.

Florian Eatery x Julia Busuttil Nishimura
See out the end-of-summer produce with a menu by best-selling author Julia Busuttil Nishimura and Florian Eatery, with wines by legendary importer Giorgio De Maria from Paski Vineria Popolare. Held Saturday, March 25, with sittings at 5.30pm or 8pm. Tickets are priced at $75 per person.

Monk x Embla
Netflix Chef’s Table fans may recognise Kyoto-based chef Yoshihiro Imai from its Pizza spin-off. For this special event, Imai will team up with Dave Verheul from Embla for a four-course feast (and yes, you’ll get a slice of his seasonally-driven wood-fired pizza, too). Monday, March 27 – Tuesday, March 28 at 7pm. Tickets are priced at $180 per person, which includes four courses and a drink on arrival.

The Heart Inside
Eat your heart out in this culinary homage to the food in the films of Studio Ghibli. Join chefs Stephen Clark and Yosuke Furukawa at Robata for this tasty tribute to Japanese animation. Held Tuesday, March 28 at 6.30pm. Tickets are priced at $164 per person.

The Convenient Store, presented by 7-Eleven
Your favourite one-stop-shop returns to Queen Victoria Market and this time around, the shelves will be stocked with sandwiches by Victor Liong and Shannon Martinez, Slurpee-powered cocktails and a 7-Eleven banana bread ice cream made by Luther’s Scoops. The Convenient Store runs Friday, March 24 – Sunday, April 2 from 8am – 8pm.

The Festival Bar 
The festival bar is back in business with modern Middle Eastern snacks by Tom Sarafian and cocktails by top Melbourne bars, alongside Starward whiskies, Pizzini wines and beers from the mighty Brick Lane Brewing.

Danny Bowien x Smith & Daughters
Danny Bowien from Mission Chinese Food in San Francisco will team up with Shannon Martinez for a plant-based feast inspired by the fiery flavours of China and Korea. Sunday, March 26 with sittings at 5.30pm and 8.30pm. Tickets are priced at $180 per person and include four courses with matched drinks

Cook Desi with Helly Raichura
Enter Via Laundry’s Helly Raichura will teach an intimate group how to cook some of the restaurant’s best-loved dishes, followed by a six-course feast. Saturday, March 25 at 11am. Tickets are priced at $353 per person.

Maker & Monger Cheese-a-Palooza
Cheese fiends can get their fill of fancy French fromage at this dedicated wine and cheese night at Maker & Monger.  Thursday, March 30 at 6.30pm. Tickets are priced at $102 per person.

Also returning will be festival favourites the World’s Longest Lunch led by Lakehouse’s Alla Wolf-Tasker AM and the World’s Longest Brunch by cake queen Natalie Paull of Beatrix Bakes.

Tickets for the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival 2023 will go on sale to the general public on Friday, February 3, with pre-sale from Tuesday, January 31 for Melbourne Food & Wine Festival subscribers. For more details or to buy tickets, head to: melbournefoodandwine.com.au.

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