Before Instagram and delicious. became our main source of birthday baking inspiration, there was the Australian Women’s Weekly Birthday Cake Cookbook. Whether you remember artfully icing a figure 8 racetrack complete with lollypop stop signs or blowing out the candles on a blue jelly swimming pool, no birthday party was complete without one of these lolly-topped creations. Thankfully, the party isn’t over. MFWF has joined forces with the NGA to put on an exhibition that will include 75 of your favourite cakes from the book in all their buttercream glory. The 8-day exhibition invites you to take a walk down memory lane, as you marvel at all the cakes you had, as well as those you bitterly wanted (ie. the piano with the teeny, tiny candelabra). Take the Cake will be held at The Ian Potter Centre: National Gallery of Victoria Australia from 9am – 5pm, March 18-25, 2020.

Calling all hot chip connoisseurs and French fry fiends. The Melbourne Food & Wine Festival is putting on an all-you-can-eat hot chips party and frankly, it all sounds a little too good to be true. Called Maximum Chips, the event will be made up of fries in all its forms, from crinkle-cut to shoestring, waffle, curly and steak – and maybe even the odd wedge thrown in for good measure. They don’t expect you to go naked either, with a smorgasbord of sauces, salts and condiments provided for your dipping pleasure. Maximum Chips will be held at Shed X at Queen Victoria Market on Friday, March 20, 2020 at 5pm. Tickets are priced at $35 and include all-you-can-eat hot chips, a welcome drink and entertainment.

Melbourne is set to get a pumping plant-based party this March where vegans can eat and drink everything on the menu and dance along with plants. Called Welcome to the Jungle, the cruelty-free event will feature a truly decadent vegan menu, served from within a lush, overgrown setting. Joining Shannon Martinez in the kitchen will be a crop of top Melbourne chefs Jerry Mai, Matt Wilkinson, Charlie Carrington, Joseph Abboud, Tom Sarafian, and more. And because it’s a party, they’ll be plenty of vegan booze, including tiki cocktails by The LuWow, and live music to bring out your inner party animal. Welcome to the Jungle will be held on Friday, March 27 in Shed X at Queen Victoria Market at a price of $25 per person.

Alfresco eating is the name of the game this NYE, with the announcement of New Year Street Feasts – an initiative to bring the streets of Melbourne alive in the very best way. Created by the City of Melbourne and Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, eleven outdoor dining precincts will set the stage for thousands of people to ring in the New Year at their favourite restaurants with friends and family across two days. Catch some of Melbourne’s most beloved venues, including Bar Margaux, Hazel, Izakaya Den and Tipo 00. Book your tickets now to avoid missing a New Years celebration like no other.

Consider yourself a chilli fiend? This March, Melbourne is set to host a Sichuan street fair, dedicated to China’s spiciest regional cuisine. Challenge accepted. The event will see Queen Victoria Market transform into a province of Southwest China for the day, with food stands by some of the city’s hottest restaurants, from Dainty Sichuan to Spice Temple, Lee Ho Fook, Supernormal, Sun Kitchen, Super Line, Belles Hot Chicken, and more. The event will include something for all tolerances, from the mildly spicy and pleasantly numbing all the way up to edible pepper spray. Aside from chowing down on Chinese food, you will also be able to attend a number of discussions and demonstrations, that is, if you haven’t burnt your tongue yet. Sichuan Snack Fair takes place at Shed X and Queen Street at Queen Victoria Market on Sunday, 11am – 5pm.

This year, delicious. and Melbourne Food and Wine Festival are offering readers the chance to win the Ultimate Festival Weekend prize, which includes return domestic flights from a major capital city, three nights accommodation, and 2 x tickets to the MFWF opening night party, the World’s Longest Lunch, Black Star Pastry x Rain Room, and The Mixed Grill, at a value of $4,500. To enter, head here and tell us in 25 words or less why you would like to win.