By Cathy Gowdie
They're back, and bigger than before. Last year's inaugural Melbourne Night Noodle Markets drew crowds by the thousand to the banks of the Yarra. From this Friday we'll do it all again – but at a new riverside site at Birrarung Marr with more stalls and more spots to sit and scoff everything from pillowy bao to soba salad and multiple national takes on sizzling barbecued pork skewers.
Even before the weekend begins there's a spread of weeknight classes and dinners. Tonight, get hands-on with Ba'get owner Duy Huynh and learn to make banh mi from scratch – from baking the bread to making the pickles. It's $35 and includes Asian-inspired drinks. Hungry hard-core carnivores should call Bar Nacional to see if there's still space at tonight's Instant Expert pork dinner. Be warned: it begins with a whole-pig butchery demonstration by head chef Alex Drobysz. The $120 price includes an aperitif to fortify you for the spectacle, and then matched Spanish wines and other drinks with a four-course porky dinner.
Also tonight, Southbank stalwart Tutto Bene celebrates 10 years with a 10-course Italian tasting menu at $100. It's one of several World Dinners this week; tomorrow night at Po' Boy Quarter in Fitzroy they're delving deep into the melting pot that is Louisiana with a five courses, cocktails and craft beers. It's $58 and if you miss it there are more on subsequent November Wednesdays.
Wine lovers might head to the Great Den in Fitzroy tomorrow night for a Drink & Dine "Butcher, Baker and Winemaker" session with Yalumba winemaker Kevin Glastonbury, who has raided the 165-year-old winery's cellars for the occasion. It's $110, wine included.
On Thursday night at Prahran's Woodland House – the former Jacques Reymond - talented young owner-chefs Thomas Woods and Hayden McFarland are marrying food and art in a one-off "Artist's Palate" dinner inspired by the major art movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, from Van Gogh to Jackson Pollock. Five courses, $250.
If you're planning a weekend getaway, consider dinner at the Yarra Valley's Savoia at lovely Mont de Lancey. The Saturday-night "Italian Table" dinner ($85) will be five courses of local and organic produce. Or book Sunday lunch at Harcourt's Bress, where a three-course, $70 Sunday lunch will be made from produce grown in the property's biodynamic gardens, served with their own wine or cider.
Back in Melbourne, Richmond's Grand Hotel stages an Italian take on yum cha: on Saturday and Sunday from 11am, trolleys carrying handmade duck agnolotti, pumpkin tortellini, beetroot gnocchi and wild boar lasagne circle the tables; or you can order a la carte. Cost varies depending on what you eat. They're calling it "Bere Vino", or "drink wine"; it's on at weekends for the rest of the month.
Sunday night is Jamaican party night in Fitzroy with Jabili Mchawala from The Voodoo Jerk Truck. He's giving rare-breed pigs the Caribbean treatment; expect pulled pork, belly spit-roasted with jerk spices, plus cornbread, red beans and rice. It's called "Pig in a Warehouse" and $55 includes two glasses of Yarra Valley wine and a microbrew.
On Monday night, taste the Great Ocean Road without venturing further than Southbank with a Hats Off dinner at No. 8 by John Lawson. Begin with mussels, oysters and cocktails on the riverside terrace before retreating to the dining room for a lavish $155 dinner. Or take a trip to Peru via Pastuso, with an $85 alpaca dinner: six nose-to-tail courses include slow-cooked short ribs and braised shoulder.
On weekdays, Let's Do Lunch $38 deals include a drink and tea or coffee, and continue for the rest of the month. At Pei Modern in the city, choose from one of three entrees, mains and desserts; perhaps pork, pickled onion and mushroom or red emperor with black barley and kale. Mount Eliza's Bistro Maison & Larder Bar has corn and chorizo croquettes and risotto of local snapper with sorrel and asparagus, while rising Ascot Vale star Union Food & Wine is offering quinoa salad with beetroot and goat's curd, lamb shoulder with orecchiette and rhubarb trifle, while
The Age Good Food Month is presented by Citi; see program details at melbourne.goodfoodmonth.com