Overview
There's still over a month of 2022 left to go, but already food lovers can start getting excited about what's on the menu when Melbourne Food & Wine Festival rolls around in 2023. The long-running culinary celebration has announced which special guests will be heading up its two headline events — the World's Longest Lunch and the World's Longest Brunch — when it returns for ten food-filled days from Friday, March 24–Sunday, April 2.
Exactly 30 years on from its 1993 debut at the MCG, the huge communal feast known as the World's Longest Lunch is next set to take over Melbourne's Treasury Gardens on Friday, March 24. And this time around, it'll feature the culinary stylings of regional treasure Alla Wolf-Tasker — the renowned chef behind Daylesford's Lake House.
Alla Wolf-Tasker, by Clint Peloso
She'll be bringing her standout skills to the city for a three-course lunch attended by around 2000 lucky diners, with the al fresco feed also matched to wines and entertainment. Tickets to this one will set you back $245.
Building on another much-loved Melbourne pastime is the World's Longest Brunch, which'll bring its own packed communal table to the leafy grounds of Treasury Gardens on Saturday, March 25. In excellent news for sweet tooths and pastry fiends, it'll be helmed by the one and only Natalie Paull — founder of the late, great North Melbourne bakeshop Beatrix Bakes.
The pastry queen will be treating to diners to her ultimate morning feed, which sounds about as dreamy as you can imagine — think, tomatoes and buffalo ricotta in a rye galette; and a riff on the ploughman's brekkie done with cured kingfish and a hashbrown. And of course, dessert's a given, set to feature Paull's signature cheesecake, topped with apple compote and cinnamon-infused granola streusel.
Nat Paull, by Clint Peloso
The brunch has capacity for 1400, with tickets coming in at $99. That'll get you your three-course feast, coffee, entertainment and a drink on arrival.
Tickets to both the World's Longest Lunch and the World's Longest Brunch go on sale on Thursday, December 8, which is excellent timing if you've got any foodies on your Christmas present list. The full Melbourne Food & Wine Festival program will then drop some time in early February.
The World's Longest Lunch will take place at Treasury Gardens on March 24, 2023, with the World's Longest Brunch hosted in the same place on March 25, 2023. Tickets to both are available online from Thursday, December 8 — with pre-sales for Melbourne Food & Wine Festival subscribers from Tuesday, December 6.
The 2023 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival runs from Friday, March 24–Sunday, April 2 — check back here for the full program in early February.