Very Good Falafel owners Louisa Allan and Shuki Rosenboim have been serving Brunswick and beyond with their very, very good falafel for the past 10 years. Both passionate about vegetables, olive oil and pulses, it felt only natural when Rome-based cook and author Alice Adams Carosi – a fellow olive oil fanatic and champion of the vegetable – suggested a collaboration. Brainstorms quickly turned into bigger ideas, and the trio decided to put on what Italians call a tavola calda: a buffet-style spread featuring a smorgasbord of vegetables braised, sautéed, tossed with garlic and chilli, cut into zesty salads, roasted, stuffed and otherwise made extra-delicious.
Here’s Rosenboim on how they put together one of MFWF 2025’s most talked-about events, Tavola Calda: Alice Adams Carosi x Very Good Falafel.
Give us the rundown on your event, how did it come together in the planning stages?
The idea for our event was born over lunch at Alice’s studio in Rome. Louisa and Alice had met years earlier and met up in June 2024 to shop at the Roman vegetable markets and prepare lunch. Talking cookbooks, events and Melbourne, Alice said she would like to do an event at the upcoming MFWF. From there, we brainstormed ideas and decided with much enthusiasm, that a Roman style tavola calda would be the ideal event for us. Our cooking styles are well matched – vegetable focused, Mediterranean style, seasonal and lots of olive oil.
What did everyone eat and drink?
The main focus of the event was a Roman style tavola calda. This is a casual help yourself affair, with the focus on seasonal vegetables. There were warm dishes, meatballs, stuffed tomatoes, greens cooked in garlic, just-cooked focaccia as well as an abundance of salad and vegetable dishes. We had fried zucchini, tomatoes in pomegranate juice, fig panzanella, among other things. With drinks on arrival there was crostini, eggplant fritters, falafel and olives and taralli passed around. Nobody went hungry!
In terms of drinks, we kept things Italian style and worked with Michael from Quelvino to make Negroni sbagliato and then carafes and glasses of wine to go with the main meal.
And on the day, how did it go, what was the highlight?
It was such a great experience! The highlight was the atmosphere! Having Alice there who had travelled so far for the event made it really special. We were super lucky with the weather and got beautiful early autumn temperatures and skies on both evenings. The venue was superb, a suburban bowling club in a beautiful park with party lights strung up. We had DJs on both nights and the ‘help yourself’ style of the event made everyone feel really relaxed.
Any curveballs or challenges along the way, or perhaps something new you learned?
We had never planned an event with an international cook before. We had many emails, group chat messages and calls across time zones. It was all 100% worth it though! Alice has lived in Rome for 20 years, she knows the cuisine intimately and had all the details planned out in a way that was faithful to the spirit of tavola calda. Even down to the paper cutlery holders and place mats she hid in her luggage!
Every year the question we’re asked most around event submission time is about price points and inclusions, what can you tell us about how you laned here?
In keeping with the democratic nature of the tavola calda, we wanted to keep the price approachable. For this reason ticket price included only food and guests were free to add drinks as they pleased.
Everyone wants their event to stand out, what advice would you give to other hospitality operators when they’re brainstorming for their next event?
Come up with an event you would like to attend! Do something that excites and would have you hitting the purchase ticket button! What interests you? What special knowledge or expertise can you bring to the festival?
How did you promote your event?
We posted about the event on our respective Instagram accounts and were lucky to sell out very quickly.
What was your reason for choosing to participate in the festival?
It’s always so exciting for us as restaurant owners to get out of our own kitchen, work in different environments with different cooks, to plan a new menu and think about the food we cook in new ways. There’s a lot of adapting to be done, but that’s what makes it so stimulating. There’s nothing better than having a big project or challenge in front of you, pulling it off and seeing everyone enjoy themselves!
Sitting down with a glass of wine after all the hard work and planning is deeply satisfying!
Very Good Falafel, 629 Sydney Rd, Brunswick, shukiandlouisa.com, @verygoodfalafel