The Melbourne Food & Wine Festival's Winter Program Has Just Been Announced
Including a pasta party, a campfire-inspired feast and a celebration dedicated to the humble hot chip.
After its unfortunate COVID-forced cancellation last year, the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival (MFWF) is making up for any missed culinary opportunities. The 2021 edition of the much-loved annual event has been reimagined as not one, but three mini festivals. The first of these served up a slew of events across the city back in March, and now it's time for course number two.
The MFWF Winter Edition is set to deliver a broad lineup of 150 food and drink events from August 20–29. Across ten culinary-packed days, you'll find brand new events, along with a handful of the hot-ticket happenings originally meant to debut in 2020.
Queen Victoria Market is set to play host to an array of demonstrations, workshops, activations and parties, including a shindig dedicated to the many varied incarnations of the humble hot chip. For $35 at Maximum Chips 2021, you'll score a welcome drink, live entertainment and (most importantly) all-you-can-eat chips, with varieties ranging from crinkle-cut spuds and the classic shoestring; to French fries and fluffy potato gems.
Also at QVM, The Convenient Store retail pop-up will be slinging a fresh rotation of smash-hit snacks (and cocktails) from a cast of beloved venues. Expect Andrew McConnell's (Cumulus Inc, Supernormal) katsu sando which itself nods to Japan's Lawson convenience store's egg sandwich.
The Remixed Grill plates up a fire-driven, wine-matched feast soundtracked by live tunes and helmed by ten legendary chefs, such as Shane Delia (Maha, Maha Bar), Tina Li (Dainty Sichuan, Little Sichuan) and Tom Sarafian (Little Andorra, ex-Bar Saracen). And each weekend, a Starward Whisky pop-up bar will be matching specialty whisky cocktails to exclusive bites from some of Melbourne's hottest emerging chef talent — think: Rosheen Kaul (Etta), Nabil Ansari (Sunda) and Lorena Corso (Napier Quarter).
Le Bon Ton, by Jake Roden
Meanwhile, Smith & Daughters' Shannon Martinez will head up a plant-based food fiesta dubbed Welcome to the Jungle, featuring a rock 'n roll edge and tiki drinks from the LuWow crew. And rounding out the QVM program, there'll be a family-friendly pasta celebration dubbed The Big Spaghetti, serving a Nonna-worthy lineup of 20 different signature dishes from pasta masters including Tipo 00 and Marameo.
Crawl and Bite will take food-lovers on progressive dining adventures through pockets and suburbs such as Footscray, Flemington and Carlton's Lygon Street, while Le Bon Ton will host a lively Louisianan shrimp boil complete with paired wine and seafood-covered tables. Or, drop by Belles for an evening of Barbadian snacks, reggae tunes and rum punch, led by the legendary Paul Carmichael (Momofuku Seiobo).
The program is brimming with opportunities to show some love to Melbourne's hard-hit hospitality industry, so you'd best bring your appetites, folks.
The Melbourne Food & Wine Festival Winter Edition program runs from August 20–29 at venues across Melbourne. Tickets are on sale from 9am Thursday, July 15 — head to the website to grab yours and to check out the full program.
Images: Josh Robenstone
