Australian Open serves up fresh and diverse food options for 2023 (and here's five to check out)

Local chefs are hunting down meatball rolling machines and recruiting friends and family as kitchen hands in preparation for this year's Australian Open, which expects 900,000 fans through the gates to check out what's hot on and off the court.

Food at the tennis tournament has become more than a sideshow in the past decade, with big-name chefs like Neil Perry and Nobu Matsuhisa bringing gravitas to stadium dining.

This year's program has a greater focus on up-and-coming Melbourne restaurants and trailblazing chefs, with more cultural diversity in the mix.

For small chef-owned business Ca Com Banh Mi Bar in Richmond, cooking at a global sporting event like the Open means scaling up its banh mi production by 500 per cent.

Chef Thi Le has called in favours from her mum and her IT manager sister, who both live in Sydney, plus a motley crew of friends who work in nursing, construction and pharmacy and will help take orders or assemble banh mi.

"If anyone overheats in the kitchen, we've got our own medical team," she jokes.

Le says she's proud to be putting her sandwich bar on the world stage.

"To be able to represent what we do culturally within our shop and give it to a mass audience internationally is a pretty huge compliment."

Approaching small neighbourhood restaurants has become a priority for the Open, which uses its Grand Slam Oval precinct to appeal to tennis fans from around the world.

"It's about making sure that we're representative of what, gastronomically, we're known and respected for around the world," says Fern Barrett, Tennis Australia's head of product growth and innovation.

Mischa Tropp is among the next-generation talent the Open has sought out. He'll be there with his Indian street food pop-up, Elsies, which has turned heads at smaller events over the past year.

"I think there's been a big change in how Australians want to eat and what they're excited about," he says of the 2023 food program.

"It's great that Indian food and culture are such a big part of what people want now, and people are willing to pay for it."

Tropp is a seasoned events chef who is planning, preparing and cooking his entire menu on his own, including making a tonne of butter chicken sauce.

But Barrett says working with small restaurants usually requires three to four months of planning. Menus are whittled down to a handful of dishes that can be easily executed for thousands of customers a day, often with the support of caterers.

Josh Fry, chef of hip Fitzroy Italian restaurant Rocco's Bologna Discoteca, has enjoyed the puzzle of taking his sandwiches from a boutique scale to the big-time.

"There are night terrors sometimes, but it is an exciting thing to get my head around how to serve 1000 meatball subs a day," he says.

An added bonus is being able to give his suppliers, like Victorian pork farm Bundarra Berkshires, a large cash injection via orders for the Open.

First Nations businesses are again featured at Melbourne Park, after Mabu Mabu broke new ground last year. Karkalla from Byron Bay will be showing off Australia's native ingredients in dishes like roo skewers with native satay sauce.

Seafood cooking sensation Josh Niland is another NSW name on the program, bringing his Sydney takeaway business Charcoal Fish to an on-site beach bar. He champions sustainability by famously using every part of the fish, sometimes in challenging dishes like fish "eyes-cream".

Charcoal Fish, though, is modelled on a chicken shop, with burgers, rotisserie rolls and chargrilled cuts.

At the tennis, all of Niland's dishes will be served with reusable plates and cutlery, another step towards sustainability by the event, along with waste sorting and recycling of PET bottles.

New flavours to try at the Open

Ca Com Banh Mi Bar

Grand Slam Oval

These banh mi are better than any you've had before, thanks to primo produce handled with aplomb by chef Thi Le (Jeow, Anchovy). Light and bright noodle bowls, including heirloom tomato and fresh herbs, are perfect for hot days.

Karkalla

Western Courts

Bundjalung woman and former MasterChef contestant Mindy Woods is putting Australia on your fork – or skewer, in the case of kangaroo with native satay sauce. Calamari is seasoned with salt and pepperberry, chips are dusted with Davidson plum salt, and more.

Elsies

Grand Slam Oval

The signature dish of butter chicken is joined by food you'll see in Indian cities, like fish cutlet pavs (rolls). But chips with curry sauce might be your best friend after a few drinks.

Rocco's Bologna Discoteca

Grand Slam Oval

A late-night meatball sub might be in order after watching a gruelling five-set game. Rocco's sandwiches started as a lockdown pivot and spawned an entire restaurant so you know they must be good.

Charcoal Fish

AO Beach Bar

Have fish and chips by the beach, without missing a moment of tennis, at this sandy enclave occupying the Tennis Australia carpark. Chef Josh Niland is also delivering a talk for those curious on his 'fin to gill' approach to cooking seafood (8.30am, Jan 17, $69 including ground pass).

Tickets and information available at ausopen.com