Picks for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival 2019

Update: The Village Feast has been postponed. The town takeover will now take place on Saturday, March 30, with 10 per cent from new ticket sales being donated to Gippsland Emergency Relief Fund. Matt Moran replaces Alejandro Saravia (pictured), who will appear at River Graze instead.

Carnivale for diners arrives this Friday as the 27th Melbourne Food and Wine Festival kicks off its two-week program of 250 events. You've missed the boat on the annual World's Longest Lunch, but not for two new festival features.

Across opening weekend (March 8-11), the House of Food and Wine at the Malthouse theatre rolls together the former festival hub with the masterclass and talks series. Day tickets get you entry to demonstrations and talks from the likes of Curtis Stone (Maude, Gwen LA), Kate Reid of Lune Croissanterie and sweet queen Kirsten Tibballs. The site features bars and eateries and is the site for a March 9 dinner with the team from Quebec's Joe Beef.

Intensifying the regional focus, Gippsland town Jindivick will be taken over by star chefs and producers on Saturday, March 30. Vegan chef Shannon Martinez will run a green grocer while Lee Ho Fook's Victor Liong offers a mod spin on rural Chinese restaurants. Farmgate tours and glamping tents are available to those staying Sunday.

Picks for other dinners you should jump on pronto: an eel dinner at Longsong will showcase the 6500-year-old aquaculture farming tradition of the Gunditjmara people at Lake Condah (Mar 21), and Pasi Petanen​, the 2017 SMH Good Food Guide chef of the year is joining forces with the team from Tipo 00 for pasta pasta pasta (Mar 10).

Melbourne Food and Wine Festival runs from March 8-24, tickets melbournefoodandwine.com.au. For more action keep an eye on the @goodfoodau Instagram account.