MEDIA UPDATE  |   27 November 2018
 

JOIN LEADING AUSTRALIAN AND INTERNATIONAL CHEFS AND PRODUCERS AT THE 2019 MELBOURNE FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL PRESENED BY BANK OF MELBOURNE

The 2019 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival presented by Bank of Melbourne (8 to 24 March) will celebrate all that’s extraordinary about eating and drinking in Victoria, with Festival-only experiences across the State on sale today.

On the opening weekend (8 to 11 March), Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre will transform into The House of Food and Wine with top international and local chefs including Matt Abergel (Ronin and Yardbird, Hong Kong), Paul Carmichael (Momofuku Seiõbo, Sydney) and Kirsten Tibballs (Savour School, Melbourne) demonstrating their dishes while others including Peter Gilmore (Quay, Sydney) and Dan Hunter (Brae, Victoria) debate hot topics in the hospitality industry.

Food + Wine Victoria CEO Anthea Loucas Bosha said, “Melbourne is full of extraordinary food and wine experiences so it seemed natural that we celebrate exactly that at the 2019 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.

“From the perennially popular Bank of Melbourne World’s Longest Lunch which sold out in half an hour on pre-sales alone to our gastronomy program at The House of Food and Wine, the family-friendly River Graze along Southbank and a spate of bespoke gourmet dinners across the city, this program celebrates the great breadth and diversity of the Victorian food and wine experience.

“We’re really excited that top Australian and international chefs, producers and restaurateurs taking part in the Festival will be more accessible than ever before. I’d encourage all food and wine lovers to be in Melbourne come March.”

 

Bank of Melbourne World’s Longest Lunch

Food legend Karen Martini will lead an all-female chef line up at the 2019 Bank of Melbourne World’s Longest Lunch on 8 March to help celebrate International Women’s Day. More than 1600 diners will gather along 500 metres of table in Prahran’s charming Victoria Gardens in the City of Stonnington.
Friday 8 March, 12 noon – 3pm, sold out

The House of Food and Wine 

In an immersive three-day takeover of Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre, The House of Food and Wine will be a premium drinking and dining destination on the Festival’s opening weekend. Each day, The House of Food and Wine will feature:

  • Top local and international chefs demonstrating their dishes at MasterClass supported by Sanpellegrino and tackling the hottest topics in hospitality at Theatre of Ideas supported by The New York Times
  • Tastings and entertainment
  • Hands-on workshops where participants learn practical skills, taste the fruits of their labour and consider the future of food with creative minds like Derek Dammann (Maison Publique, Montreal), Sharon Flynn (The Fermentary, Victoria) and David Moyle (Longsong, Melbourne)
  • Food trucks offering bespoke creations and cocktails from Belles Hot Chicken and Mamasita
  • A daily Asian street food collaboration, including Rice Paper Sister (Melbourne) x Toyo Eatery (Manila) x Jeepney (New York City) on Saturday 9 March and Restaurant Shik (Melbourne) x Atomix and Atoboy (New York City) on Sunday 10 March
    Saturday 9 March to Monday 11 March, 12 noon - 6pm, $45 for early bird day pass (includes entry to The House of Food and Wine, MasterClass and Theatre of Ideas with food and drink available for purchase) or $99 for early bird VIP day pass; workshops are $40 each and can be added to any day pass

 

The House of Food and Wine After Dark

Come night, the party really gets started at The House of Food and Wine with three one-off events:

  • All the Chickens supported by Hennessy - Every culture has a signature chicken recipe, so we decided to bring them together in a globetrotting menu cooked by some of our favourite chefs. All The Chickens is headlined by Matt Abergel, who has made his name cooking exceptional yakitori at Hong Kong’s Yardbird. Joining Abergel will be Morgan McGlone (Belles Hot Chicken, Melbourne and Sydney), Palisa Anderson (Boon Cafe and Chat Thai, Sydney), Thi Le (Anchovy, Melbourne) in collaboration with Trisha Greentree and Barbados-born Paul Carmichael (Momofuku Seiōbo, Sydney).
    Friday 8 March, $95, includes five dishes and Hennessy cocktail on arrival, drinks to purchase
  • Kings of Quebec supported by Destination Canada - Montreal’s food scene is synonymous with one name: Joe Beef. The lauded restaurant opened in 2005 and has earned a reputation for embracing Quebec’s hedonistic style of gastronomy. The Joe Beef team will descend on Melbourne to cook a candle-lit supper of epic proportions.
    Saturday 9 March, $185, includes five courses and drinks
  • Master Quiz by The Hungry Gentlemen - Put your palate to the test in the ultimate food and wine sensory quiz, devised and delivered by wine writer Max Allen and food writer Richard Cornish. Guests will be served mystery drinks to taste, charcuterie and cheese to ponder, and delicious desserts to decipher as Allen and Cornish ask the curly questions to discover which of Melbourne’s supertasters will leave with the coveted Golden Tongue Award.
    Sunday 10 March, $75, includes food and drink tastings with more drinks available to purchase

 

Global Dining Series supported by Lavazza

Top Australian and international chefs will take over the pans at some of Melbourne’s most loved restaurants. Highlights include:

  • Peter Gilmore (Quay, Sydney) at Cutler & Co.
  • Dan Hong (Mr. Wong, Sydney), Victor Liong (Lee Ho Fook, Melbourne) and Jowett Yu (Ho Lee Fook, Hong Kong) at Flower Drum
  • Jake Kellie (Burnt Ends, Singapore) at Sunda
  • Daniel Puskas (Sixpenny, Sydney) at Laura, Pt Leo Estate

 

Regional Weekend

Over three days from 15 to 17 March, the regions will come alive with long lunches, crawls in three gastronomic hot-spots and the transformation of a tiny town into the ultimate foodie destination. Celebrate Victoria’s regions in style with 19 simultaneous Regional World’s Longest Lunches in spectacular locations on Friday 15 March. Highlighting the diversity of regional Victoria’s culinary offering, Crawl ’n’ Bite supported by Victoria Harbour comes to the regions for the first time with crawls in Ballarat, Healesville and Kyneton. More than 50 other events will take place across regional Victoria throughout the weekend. Highlights include:

  • Surf Coast BBQ Block Party – overlooking Anglesea Beach at Captain Moonlite with Aaron Turner (Igni), Mike Patrick (Fancy Hank’s) and Elliot Moss from Buxton Hall Barbecue in Asheville (USA)
  • Great Western’s Longest Underground Lunch – held at Seppelt Winery in the historic underground cellars dug by miners over 160 years ago.

On sale soon, the small town of Jindivick in Gippsland will be transformed by Melbourne Food & Wine Festival into a thriving culinary destination for two days over Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 March. Melbourne-based restaurants, cafés and bars will collaborate with local culinary stars, producers and winemakers to give event-goers the ultimate gastronomic experience.

Other events will be announced in early 2019 including:

  • Restaurant Express supported by OpenTable (8 - 24 March)
  • Crawl ‘n’ Bite supported by Victoria Harbour (18 - 19 March)
  • River Graze with support from City of Melbourne (22 - 24 March)
  • MFWF Umbrella program, with more than 100 extraordinary events in restaurants across Melbourne (8 - 24 March)

Melbourne Food & Wine Festival is supported by Victoria’s tourism and major events company Visit Victoria and naming rights partner Bank of Melbourne, which has supported the Festival every year since the bank was relaunched to the Victorian market in 2011.

More information and tickets available at mfwf.com.au.

ENDS

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Download a PDF version of this release here.