There are plenty of people out there giving uncritical coverage of big food events. But few really guide you on how to get the most out of them.
Last year I tried to answer the question on whether or not it is worth bothering with Taste of Melbourne from 23 to 29 August (read the comments too), based on the fact that it is a big money making event.
Taste of Melbourne is better than the Good Food and Wine Show, where you are paying to have people sell you useless kitchen stuff that you don’t really need and sit at the back of an auditorium to see some TV chefs messing around with food. In contrast, Taste of Melbourne is about the food and gives you the opportunity to taste dishes from some of Melbourne’s higher profile chefs.
So if you don’t get out to eat much, are from the bush or another city, this is a great opportunity to see some of the food that Melbourne offers despite that it misses out on top restaurants such as Cutler & Co, Cumulus Inc, Attica, Circa, Bar Lourhina and a few others.
Taste of Melbourne survival tips
1. Do pick your time carefully. Last year Jackie from Eating with Jack (and Earl Canteen) and I went early on the opening night, which was one of the best times. While there were queues on popular food stalls, it was pretty empty. At peak times over the weekend it will be jammed and some stalls will run out of food.
2. Tickets on the door are $30; in advance $27.50. A book of tickets – Crowns – costs $30. You can buy a premium ticket for $55, which includes $30 worth of Crowns, saving a fairly measly $2.50 on prebought tickets and $5 on the door price.
3. The Crowns are the Taste of Melbourne’s currency which you have to buy at an exchange rate of $1 to one Crown and can be a bit annoying. What you find is the meals are priced at 8, 10 and 12 Crowns. Drinks are six. What you can find is that you can buy books of $30 crowns so you may find that one book may not be enough for two people and too much for one. Also unless you are good at maths you’ll end up with some unused Crowns at the end of your visit.
Chefs to watch
4. Friday, Comida Bebe by Raúl Moreno Yagüe. Raúl is a hot Spanish guy and a former sommelier at Vue de Monde. He’s a great story teller if he has time on Friday night and is sure to be offering some interesting spin on Spanish tapas.
5. Saturday, Izakaya Den with executive chef Yosuke Furukawa is showing. You can see my view on the restaurant here, which in summary I think is quite good but overhyped. Inevitably there will be queues andlate in the day the kitchen may even run out of food. Get in early.
6. Sunday, Embrasse with executive chef Nic Poelaert. Nic is an up-and-comer in the dining scene here and is a disciple of the great Michel Bras. I’ve eaten twice and the food is delicate and beautiful – easy on the palate and the eye.The restaurant itself has overcome its early folksy service with the arrival of Camm from Attica as manager. Again, get in early to ensure you get a chance to try Nic’s food.
7. Charcoal Lane, executive chef Damien Styles. This is an absolutely terrific training restaurant run by Mission Australia that uses indigenous ingredients is a great non-cliched way. It’s really worth a visit to this much underrated and great value restaurant too.
8. Longrain Restaurant and Bar, executive chef Martin Boetz. This is an opportunity to try decent Thai-style food in Melbourne.
9. The celebrity chef restaurants, Maze (Gordon Ramsay) and The Palace (Luke Mangan). Your block here will be the queues and crowds so they are worth avoiding if that is the case. But there again if you are there and there are no queues try these as it will save you the bother of actually visiting them. Maz at Crown is okay but a global franchise and as such you get all the lack of value and innovation that you get from a high-end chain from money-focused chef. The same goes for The Palace with the added problem that the restaurant is in a nomansland in Port Melbourne which means you either have to drive or catch a taxi.
10. Among the others I’d suggest a look in at The European, Esposito (fish), Libertine (French), Sarti (innovative Italian)…they are all pretty decent restaurants. I can’t say there is any one to avoid.
Let us know in comments if there are any spectacular stand outs. Or crashes.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Ohhh thanks for the tips! I rebooked tix n was disappointed cos u also have to pay like a $5 admin charge also! Don’t think it has any fees buying on the day! Gd that I got a buy 1 get 1 free code!
I’m also disappointed that there’s not a lot of fantastic restaurant featured. the only one I loooked forward to (embrasse) was on one night and I am not going that nite!
The good thing is a lot of exhibitors give u free trials- last yr I had a relatively large sample of Maggie beer icecream! Yum yum!
I’ve managed to score myself 4 free tix to any session which is just perfect as my parents are visiting from Tassie that week. Now I dont have to worry about paying for anything more than food yay!
I enjoyed it last year and it wasn’t too busy when we went so I’m hoping we’ll be fortunate again. Very different list of restaurants this time round too.
Will let you know alll about it on my (non-food)blog
Going from last year.. do yourself a favour and pick up some Moraitis tomatoes atn the produce market. I will eat them at every meal for days after Taste of Melbourne. Not sure if Luke Mangan will be showcasing his herb/spice mixes again but they were a highlight too.
p.s. I didn’t have any Crowns left over in 2009.. We had 60 between two people and had to buy more on the night and spend cash (one ‘Bretzel’ lady made it clear she didn’t want to accept Crowns & Gundowring icecream sold their little icecream samples for 50 cents each – so we had to dig into our pockets). Jacques Reymond’s 12 crown offering was the size of a chicken nugget. You can spend 30 crowns and feel like you’ve eaten one entree (but this depends on the individual restaurants). We’re flying in from a Tassie holiday on Saturday and driving straight to Taste of Melbourne. Looking forward to it! Will miss George Calombaris not being there. Last year’s Press Club offerings were disappointing but Maha and Hellenic Republic were great..as was George himself.
Good guide, Ed. Another tip – the last session Sunday is not a bad time to be there as some exhibitors discount their goods at the end (to save packing them up and carting them home).
“michel gras”?
Is he Michel Bras’ Austrian cousin?
This is a pretty good guide I have to say! Haha I love the sound of discounts on the last day, I love Della Mano’s brownies, I hope they slash prices then!!!
Thanks for this information, really informative for the outa-towners like me.
Cheers Anna
Is the event vegetarian friendly?
Hi Ed, I always read your blog. Always. So I am very annoyed with myself for not having read this before I was gifted free passes!
My points:
1. Crowns. Other than being utterly annoying, the sustainability-conscious part of me felt uncomfortable tearing away at book after book when I had unquestionably reusable cash burning a hole in my pocket. Though major props on the enviro-conscious cutlery.
2. Be mindful that this is called “taste” and that is what you will get. And that like rides at The Show or Theme Parks, you pay a bit for the privilege too. I saw a tweet saying bring $120 to spend on food + some for extra playthings you might want to buy. I did not wish to spend that much and recognise that I only my tight-arse-ness to blame for being hungry… I’d just prefer to take that money to the bar at Cumulus Inc or for a bit extra, go the degustation at Attica. But then, I may not be Taste’s target market.
3. Taste Wine with Gourmet Traveller WINE. Delicious. Plentiful. Informative and great value. We loved it.
Note: I am a cranky sort and this is just my opinion. I had lots of great conversations with other attendees who were having a fine old time. Me. I will link in this post on my fashion blog. God forbid another fashionista goes hungry.
PS: If you are on Twitter – check out recs from @jeroxie and @wendyonline @triliho on what is good.
PS: Esz – hello!!
Black marks to produce purveyors who wouldn’t accept Crowns. And I thought 10 Crowns for a single tempura oyster from Esposito was definitely exorbitant, specially when compared with The Palace’s similarly priced and excellent wagyu burger or the fine fare at Sarti.
A lot more room this year with the balcony areas being used.
bras not gras
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