There will be no need to get ‘hangry’ at the 2015 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (MFWF) presented by Bank of Melbourne. The 17 day festival, running from the 27 February to the 15 March 2015 is full of unique and delicious foodie events to fill every tummy.
Amongst the well renowned and favourite festival events, there will be some new additions to the 2015 busy programme with the MasterClass Skills Workshop. Three chefs will share their extensive knowledge on one skill set. Benjamin Cooper will kick start the new event with his pickle and fermenting workshop, followed by Johnny di Francesco’s champion pizza session and a simplified lesson on how to freshly dress salads by Matt Wilkinson.
For the fourth year in a row, Queensbridge Square will be transformed into a pop-up hub, housing the Festival Artisan Bakery. Justin Gellatly from London’s state of the art bakery and baking school, Bread Ahead and Eric Kayser, a fourth generation master baker from Paris will share their skills and knowledge at Queensbridge Square. The pop-up bakery will be serving artisan bread, legendary doughnuts and will house a wine and coffee bar with a workshop space for special MFWF events.
The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival are famous for Bank of Melbourne World’s Longest Lunch. On the 27th of February, the Queen Victoria Markets will be transformed like never before with more than 1,500 diners enjoying a three course meal amongst the fresh produce in the historic market sheds. The three course menu has been designed by Shane Delia from Melbourne’s Maha and
Adriano Zumbo from the renowned Adriano Zumbo Pâtissier, Melbourne. The talented Peter Rowling Catering will be bringing the event to life by expressing a new meaning of ‘Farm to Table’.
Speaking of ‘Farm to Table’, Dan Barber will be bringing a world of knowledge to Melbourne, sharing his visionary philosophies on the future of this movement during his Theatre of Ideas event at the National Gallery of Victoria’s Clemenger Auditorium– In Conversation with Dan Barber. This event will delve into the writing process of Dan’s new book – The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food.
The Festivals signature event; Langham Melbourne MasterClass will run from the 7-8 of March 2015 and includes dynamic chefs from all over the world, sharing inspiration, conversation as well as tasting memories like never before. Jamie Bissonnette from the USA, the famous Ruth Rogers from River Café in London, King of Canadian cuisine Jeremy Charles and Janice Wong the Singaporean cutting edge pastry chef will be heading this signature event.
Wine is in the Festival’s tittle for a reason with the Return to Terroir wine event at the Melbourne Town Hall from the 28 February to the 1st of March. The event features more than 40 biodynamic wineries inviting attendees to taste, review and educate themselves on Australian wines along with international wonders.
Enjoy ‘The Classics’ or ‘The Not So Classics’ at the two bold Aqua Panna Global Wine Experience sessions. Both sessions will discuss what makes up ‘great wines’ and will discuss the famous chardonnays, cabernets and merlots in comparison to smaller unique blends.
During the festivals opening on the 27th of February, Rodney Scott from South Carolina’s Scott’s Bar-B-Que will celebrate the ‘low and slow’ fever. Eric Werner and his primal approach to open fire cooking, from the Yucatan Jungle will present a feast of flavours on the 1st of March. On the 14th of March, multi-award winning Chef Simon Rogan (L’Enclume, UK) will pay tribute to the edible wonders of the Australian landscape at The Royal Mail Hotel (Grampians).
Flemington Grazing Trail & Cellar Door will take place on the famous Flemington front lawns and rose gardens on Saturday the 14th of March with an incredible selection of the very best boutique wineries, breweries and producers Victoria has to offer in a unique cellar door atmosphere. Combining Australia’s best racehorses, cooking demonstrations on the Smeg Stage from leading Victorian chefs, global bites and beverages, and a selection of children’s activities, it really is the perfect recipe for an all age’s affair.
What is food without wine and wine without food, the Perfect Match will be three sessions moderated by Matt Skinner, a wine writer discussing the perfect food and beverage matches. Matt will be joined by Raph Rashid, Adam D’Sylva and Mike Bennie to discuss street food combinations, and the perfect accompanying drinks to have with your all-time favourites.
Ben Sears and Brad Hickey will match punchy Korean flavours with bold Brash Higgins wines, and Shashi Singh will team up with Adam D’Sylva to find perfect partners for Indian inspired dishes.
Crawl ‘n’ Bite will take guests on a hunt for Melbourne’s hidden food gems, in the form of a progressive dinner that will stop off at restaurants like; Epocha, Grossi Florentino, Upstairs, Pastuso, Stokehouse City and Supernormal. Small plates will be matched with drinks to give the finest variety of Melbourne’s hidden favourites. It would not be Melbourne without the combination of food and art, and the incredibly exclusive event at the Jewish Museum of Australia, possesses a unique embrace of the often dreaded ‘Solo Dining’ at the very special Andy Warhol’s Jewish Geniuses and Warhol Now. For the arty but less adventurous, the Prix Fixe will incorporate local designers from the Virgin Australia Fashion Festival Cultural Program.
This is only the beginning, so tantalise those taste buds and get ready! Tickets for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival are on sale at melbournefoodandwine.com.au.
For more information, visit www.visitmelbourne.com or engage on social media using #visitmelb on the following channels.