A fluoro-yellow burger is bouncing across Melbourne pubs during the Australian Open. The special-edition Baseline Burger has fluoro-yellow buns with sesame seed stitching and is filled with true blue Aussie burger classics like beetroot and pineapple, along with a beef patty, bacon, a fried egg and cheese. It is available across the Melbourne CBD at The Duke, The Crafty Squire and Imperial Bourke Street, and at The Provincial in Fitzroy. The Baseline Burger is an eye-popping shade of fluorescent yellow, but there’s not an artificial ingredient in sight. The custom colour was a labour of love between Hollands and The Pastry Lounge, who used matcha powder and saffron to achieve the instantly recognisable tennis ball yellow.

Pop the kettle on and preheat your oven – it’s time to get caking, baking, and decorating! February is almost upon us and that means one thing: it’s Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and Afternoon Teal time! Around the country people are being encouraged to become a host for hope by donning their favourite apron and hosting an Afternoon Teal to raise awareness and much needed funds for women and their families living with ovarian cancer. Teal is the international colour for ovarian cancer, so it’s the perfect excuse to pull out the food colouring, bake that cake that you’ve needed an excuse to make and try out that new biscuit recipe that Aunty Alice passed on to you at Christmas. This year, Ovarian Cancer Australia aims to raise $500,000. Registrations are now open at afternoonteal.net.au. Once you register your Afternoon Teal, Ovarian Cancer Australia will send you an Afternoon Teal Kit which contains everything you need and more to start planning your Afternoon Teal, teal balloons and all!

Chef Peter Gunn and his team at Ides are now opening their doors for lunch on weekends, just in time for the busy Australian Open and summer events season. Located at 92 Smith Street, Collingwood, Ides will now be open for dinner from 6pm Tuesday through Sunday and lunch from midday Saturday and Sundays.

From Friday, 19th January until Sunday March 11 2018, The Bridge Hotel’s famous laneway and Diner Bar will be transformed into a Tanqueray ‘Gin and Juice’ wonderland. This Tanqueray ‘Gin and Juice’ pop up is a first for Melbourne’s bustling bar scene. The team behind this iconic Melbourne pub plan to activate the laneway and bar areas every quarter according to the seasons and preferred drinking accompaniment.

Sunday Sundown, Merivale’s annual music series presented by Summer Bright Lager, has announced that Australian indie-pop duo, Client Liaison (DJ set), has joined its sensational summer line-up. The good-times charged duo will bring their flavour to the Coogee Pavilion turntables for four epic afternoon DJ sessions in February.

Since 2014, the annual Food for Thought charity dinners, have founded a unique collaboration of emerging and talented hospitality professionals to create exceptional dinners for a higher cause. Founded by chef Mal Meiers, Food For Thought aims to work with chefs to utilise their skills and experience while raising awareness of the crippling effects of anxiety and depression in the hospitality industry. By encouraging conversation around the dining table to help break down the stigma surrounding mental health with all profits going to beyondblue and R U OK?. They have held dinners in Melbourne, Sydney and most recently in Brisbane. On Monday 12th February, Food for Thought is collaborating with Arbory Bar & Eatery on a cocktail party for 350 people at Arbory Afloat which will see a coming together of industry legends Ray Capaldi and Donovan Cooke teamed up with Shaun Quade, Thi Le, Matt Stone and Jo Barrett, who will all help create an 8 course canapé menu. Mal Meiers (Food for Thought) and Nick Bennett (Arbory) will be at the helm to bring this diverse and one of a kind event to life. Alice Zaslavsky has also put her hand up to MC the event with the goal is to raise $50,000 on the night. Event: Food For Thought at Arbory Afloat Date: Monday 12th February, 2018 Time: 6pm – 9pm Address: Arbory Afloat, 1 Flinders Walk, Melbourne, 3000 Ticket Info: Tickets for an 8 course canapé menu and beverage package: $100 per person, available via the website.

The reign of the Hemmes dynasty continues with Mr Wong, an opulent Cantonese diner set within the lower floors of the Establishment building. Bamboo steamers rule the daytimes, with each thatched lid hiding a trio of stuffed and bundled treasures. One bite wonders include the fat lobster and scallop tucked in thin, translucent skins, caviar crowned pork and prawn shumai and the crunchy wagyu and truffle pastry puffs. The rest of the menu falls under the jurisdiction of executive chef Dan Hong, who has taken centuries-old dishes and thrust them into the modern age. 3 Bridge Street, Sydney; merivale.com/venues/mrwong

Celebrating their ninth studio album ‘Concrete and Gold’ – their seventh to go #1 in Australia – and this month’s stadium tour down under, rock ‘n’ roll legends the Foo Fighters have partnered with local brewers Young Henrys on a limited edition, Young Henrys and Foo Fighters ‘Foo Town’ lager. The brew is available exclusively at Foo Fighters pop-up boozers in Sydney and Melbourne this week, giving fans a chance to listen to the new album, drink schooners of Foo Town and get their hands on exclusive merchandise from the band.

Melbourne’s favourite outdoor cinema for foodies is back – featuring six of the city’s best restaurants and an eclectic film line-up that’ll satisfy the indie/retro film buff inside us all. Taking over the lawns at Caulfield Racecourse at the beginning of March, Gourmet Cinema blends an outdoor movie experience with a food festival that’ll have you pondering if you’re there for the flicks or the noms. Each session features food and drinks from four restaurants, with one hero restaurant taking creative license with a special movie-inspired menu each night. The season kicks off on Thursday, 1 March with Hotel Jesus and the film Chef. Think margaritas, tostadas and a taste of Mexico by Head Chef Luke Hammond. You can also buzz the tower with a bun in hand from Shannon Bennett’s Benny Burger during the screening of Top Gun, or lay back and get Sideways with a tipple and a Banh Mi from Uncle. Extra points for dancing in the aisles during La La Land or dressing like a ‘super freak’ for Little Miss Sunshine. BYO leotards. The movie/menu line-up this year features: Chef presented by Hotel Jesus Little Miss Sunshine presented by Jimmy Grants Top Gun presented by Benny Burger Sideways presented by Uncle Before Midnight presented by Hellenic Republic La La Land presented by Uncle The Lost Boys presented by Benny Burger Vicky Cristina Barcelona presented by Mamasita Tickets and more information are available from gourmetcinema.com.au.

As part of this year’s Sydney Festival, burger legends Mary’s are in the Meriton Festival Village (next to the infamous Karaoke Carousal) and have a one-off special ‘Mary’s Dog’ available. The hot dog includes a pork and fennel sauce, sauerkraut and pickled jalapeno with mustard and ketchup.

Acclaimed chef Tomotaka Ishizuka is set to introduce Australian diners to the rarefied world of Japanese haute cuisine known as Kaiseki, with the highly anticipated opening of his eponymous 16-seat restaurant on Melbourne’s Bourke Street. In Japan, Kaiseki is regarded as an art form practiced only by the most experienced culinary masters. Distinguished by a reverence for the authentic flavours derived from fresh, seasonal produce, this approach balances taste and texture with expert precision. In the Kaiseki tradition, the diner’s discovery of these flavours over a series of courses is complemented by a tremendous sense of theatre, cultivated via carefully selected tableware, intricate food presentation and an exclusive, intimate dining setting. Ishizuka embodies this tradition in a thoroughly contemporary fashion, serving up a nightly set menu of 11 dishes showcasing the honesty, integrity and exquisite beauty of Japanese ingredients. With an ever-changing menu, thoughtfully crafted from seasonal produce. Guests could expect to commence their evening with an amusebouche of sea urchin and spanner crab, followed by Zensai – meaning ‘small pretty things’ – comprising five delicacies such as cured ocean trout sushi and boiled black tiger prawn with caviar.

Australian Open and Huon Salmon have joined forces to fuel players and fans with healthy food options at one of the world’s biggest sports and entertainment event in January. The new relationship will see Huon Salmon as the official salmon supplier at the Australian Open Festival for 2018. Patrons will be able to enjoy a variety of Huon Salmon offerings across the Melbourne Park precinct during the two weeks including fine dining options such as world renowned Nobu, a pop-up Japanese themed Huon Salmon restaurant called Oishi (Japanese for Delicious) and a fun collaboration with Melbourne favorite Hunky Dory Fish and Chips in the Australian Open Festival site.

Victor Liong (Head Chef, Lee Ho Fook) presents ‘Back to the Future’; The Unicorn Hotel’s fourth edition of ‘My Australia’ on Sunday the 4th February. The series invites Australia’s top chefs to take over The Unicorn Hotel kitchen and share their personal experiences of what Australian cuisine means to them. Jimmy Garside, Head Chef of The Unicorn, invited Liong “obviously because he’s one of the best chefs cooking Chinese food in Australia right now. I wanted to see what inspired Victor – how his experiences of life in Australia contributed to his approach to Chinese cooking.” Who: Victor Liong (Lee Ho Fook) When: Sunday 4th February 2018, Staggered seatings between 12:30-2pm Cost: $65 a head with natural wine selection curated by Jake Smyth (purchased by the bottle) Where: The Unicorn Hotel – 106 Oxford Street, Paddington Book: Bookings through enquiries@theunicornhotel.com.au

SoulBytes is a wholly unique, holistic, soul-nourishing coffee roaster and bakery located in the heart of Seminyak, Bali, specialising in excellent coffee and delicious, contemporary Australian café-style food. Alongside innovative and original dishes made with the freshest, locally sourced produce and our own specialty-grade coffee blend roasted in-house, SoulBytes serves reminders to connect with others and to lead rich and meaningful lives. In keeping with pop philosopher Alain de Botton’s “School of Life” principles, their aim is to create a space where, not only the tummy, but also mind and soul are nourished, so that customers leave the café enriched, better people than when they came.