What's on: week one of Melbourne's Good Food Month 2014
A spectacular launch party with Yotam Ottolenghi on Thursday night marked the beginning of Good Food Month. The festival proper got under way on Saturday with the first of the month's Saturday barbecues and surprise lunches, and families taking advantage of special Sunday family menus. Here's a taste of what's on offer this week.
Starting Tuesday, Ms Collins in the city has a Hot & New $35 deal comprising champagne and your choice of two of four dishes devised by some of the better-known chefs about town: Jacques Reymond's spanner crab beignet with sauce rouille; Paul Wilson's empanadas with mission fig mole; Riccardo Momesso's crab and pea arancini; or Daniel Wilson's Southern chicken ribs with jalapeno mayo.
Wednesday night, five of Melbourne's hottest young chefs join forces in the kitchen at Estelle in Northcote to cook a five-course tasting menu. The Age Good Food Guide 2015 Young Chef of the Year, Josh Pelham, will work with Pope Joan's Vanessa Mateus, The Commoner's Jake Kellie, Daniel Rahilly of St Crispin and George Tomlin from The Town Mouse. The young guns will each prepare a course at this festival feature event; $150 includes matched wine.
Wednesday night also marks the first of pastry chef Gad Assayag's five-course Wednesday dessert extravaganzas at Green Park Dining (the former St Ali North) in Carlton North. It's part of the festival's Drink & Dine series; the five courses are $45, with drinks (sparkling, fortified, cocktails, coffee) chosen by sommelier James Madden for a further $35.
Jacques Reymond joins chef Adrian Li behind the pass at Prahran's lively Saigon Sally on Thursday night (November 6) for a one-off Indo-Chinese World Dinner; expect sparky, aromatic dishes that illustrate the French colonial influence on Vietnamese cuisine. All up it's $165, including matched wines and other drinks.
On Friday, round up your manga-mad, anime-obsessed friends – and anyone else who likes a neo-Japanese themed party – and head to the Arts Centre for the Harajuku pop-up bar at Sake. It's part of the festival's Pop-ups & Parties program: for $45 you'll get three cocktails inspired by Tokyo's playful Harajuku district and matching izakaya-style canapes.
It will be a good weekend to take the kids to St Kilda for a Sunday Family Lunch of pizza. At Itali.co, $30 buys a pizza or pasta followed by a traditional Italian dessert, plus Italian wine, beer or soft drink – this Sunday only. Or, head to Karen Martini's Mr Wolf for a three courses of pizza primavera, braised lamb with horta and a panna cotta dessert for $49 – the same deal is available on the month's remaining Sundays.
Other possibilities for this Sunday include an Instant Expert class at the Yarraville Community Centre on how to cook duck with Asian flavours. "Duck Three Ways" will teach you to make Peking duck, crunchy duck salad and duck soup – all you need is an apron, containers for take-home samples and $45 for the workshop.
Or, head for the Yarra Valley; you could make a stop at Cherryhill Orchards in Wandin East, showcasing its stone fruit and organic produce – it's free to look around.
In Dunkeld, enjoy a "Right Royal Harvest Lunch" cooked by Robin Wickens at the Royal Mail Hotel. It's $120; you'll find it under the Kitchen Gardening section of the program.
The crew at St Kilda Road's Orient East are promising to show us their buns on Monday night. For $50 you get two craft beers and five bao with your choice of filling.
If cheese and champagne is more your speed, head to Milk The Cow fromagerie (November 10). Cheesemonger Laura Lown has teamed with champagne aficionado Kyla Kirkpatrick to pair champagnes with French artisan cheeses. The masterclass ("Milk The Cow Meets the Champagne Dame") is $95; if you miss out, there's another class the following Monday night.
The Age Good Food Month is presented by Citi; see program details at melbourne.goodfoodmonth.com