The World Loves Melbourne Blog

Virginia Plain hosted the first ever Mega Dega with a sellout crowd enjoying a pairing and matching of craft beers with innovative dishes from top Melbourne chefs as part of Good Beer Week. Melbourne is a city of culinary sophistication with a burgeoning craft beer scene.  The rise of Good Beer Week is nothing short of a phenomenon - in a few short years the event has become one of the best beer festivals in the world. In fact a top USA identity commented it was his favourite festival in the world due to the quality and variety of the events including boat cruise, live brews, dinners in breweries, and the Mega Dega. The World Loves Melbourne  enjoyed the degustation as a guest of Good Beer Week.

Virginia Plain was the perfect venue according to Jame Smith the organiser of Good Beer Week, with its location in Flinders Lane, spaciousness, ambience and large kitchen. The larger than life Matt Beyer from Virginia Plain is also a beer guy and has a penchant from big innovative events so here was a perfect match. To enhance the experience each beer and food pairing was followed by the chef and brewer giving diners an insightful synopsis. Rock star brewers and rock star chefs. 

The Mega Dega began in lively style with fun innovative Cavalier Cocktails (margaritas) along with first class Canapes from Virginia Plain. Cavalier is a local brewer who produce an easy drinking craft beer which also raises funds for Motor Neuron Disease. 

Sarti Restaurant in the Melbourne CBD is an inspiring hatted Italian restaurant offering a world of cool and sophisticated cuisine. Sarti brings together a compelling fusion of traditional and contemporary. The World Loves Melbourne attended the unveiling of the Sarti winter menu and Sarti.it and we left on a Sarti Italian high. Sarti has been a Melbourne favourite and an Italian restaurant that rises above the pack. Each dish from Head Chef Paulo was presented with imagination, flair and technique in spades.

Sarti offers a sophisticated ambience with modern artistic pieces such as the one above, with great use of timber, artwork on walls, classic dim lighting, sweeping bar with attractive tiles and funky music. The theme of red that underscores the logo is reflected in the restaurant fit out. Service is professional and engaging but not overpowering.

Baby Pizza is a chic pizza joint in Church St Richmond that excites with its quality cuisine and Italian influences. If you like your pizza and want a decent vibe, then Baby Pizza delivers. But if you also love an Italian cafe then these guys are also a superb cafe. Open from 7am is a serious commitment. And a La Marzocco to boot.

Chris Lucas and the team behind highly successful Chin Chin are in action, and these guys know what they're doing. I arrived here spontaneously after driving past and deciding to duck in. I was warmly greeted at the door and made to feel welcome - then offered a stool at the bar. My first impression was Baby Pizza is chic but also homely. Racy and rustic. Across the bar I could see the chefs in action. Culinary theatre. The restaurant was packed and the noise levels rising with lively conversation.

Baby Pizza has a simple menu with an effort to create an authentic Italian experience. An impressive Melbourne trend is to attract chefs and staff from Italy. Baby Pizza has brought in fine Italian chefs to add to the authenticity.

Acland St Cantina is a place of the fiesta where you can relax and enjoy upmarket surroundings and impressive cuisine. There's a seriousness about authenticity and bringing a fullness to the Mexican expression. The World Loves Melbourne has visited twice and has left full of joy (yes, this is exactly how I felt). Melbourne is a serious destination for quality Mexican food. Having missed the launch party due to prior commitments I was glad to visit when the Cantina was in its full stride. 

Acland St Cantina is a well thought out establishment with the front casual diner section almost as enjoyable as the (more formal but still relaxed) back section. Here you can chill out (from 7am) with an abridged menu with tacos and dips, tacos (even a breakfast taco), hot dogs, quesadillas and other tasty treats. The lunch menu is fast and fresh. We spent a couple of hours here imbibing the ambience and dining casually. What I loved was the ability to take home a bevy of quality Mexican groceries for home consumption. With guests arriving at home I loaded up on several dips and various types of corn chips - so fresh and tasty, even a bit of a kick.

Hammer & Tong is one of the new exciting cafe restaurants in Melbourne and has captivated most with chic ambience and an impressive menu. The team is top notch and boasts ex Vue De Monde and Jacques Reymond staff that basically know what they're doing to create a superb dining experience. Set slightly back from Brunswick Street you enter via a graffiti world of Westgarth Street. The entry is understated but once inside it's immediately apparent this place hums. Especially when Johnny Cash is playing over the speakers singing "One Love"... 

A partnership between head chef Simon Ward and manager Dennis Ferreira, Hammer & Tong celebrates casual dining and simple, fresh ingredients. An open bar and kitchen is the heart of the light filled space. Hammer & Tong have reworked the stylish interiors created for former premises The Brix with their own take on vintage-industrial chic.

Hammer & Tong serves up great coffee, which is a welcome start. As I savoured my coffee I admired the vintage pieces around the room including the large old scales and vintage cake display, and reflected on the lyrics of Cash singing "One Love."

Melbourne is brimming with dining options as one of the world's great culinary cities. But once in a while a change is not such a bad thing. Especially when there's the option to pop down to Tasmania and visit one of the world's great galleries and its French inspired restaurant The Source. MONA, the brainchild of David Walsh, is a sensation and now Tasmania's biggest tourist attraction. A gallery like no other which features themes of sex and death. MONA being the anacronym for The Museum of Old and New Art. It has stirred controversy since its opening in 2011 and some of its exhibits are shocking and provocative.

The World Loves Melbourne was excited to visit The Source restaurant at MONA. This is one of Australia's most spectacular restaurants overlooking the pristine Derwent River.

GG is an elegant restaurant in East Melbourne that appeals with excellent honest cuisine, engaging service and a cool ambience. Lenny Kravitz tiles from New York grace the bar for goodness sake. The owners and staff at GG (name is a reference to a family member of the owner as well as a reference to the MCG nearby) are vastly experienced and bring a customer pleasing and top notch dining experience. Premium dining experiences in East Melbourne are in demand as the East Melbourne "set" includes wealthy apartment dwellers, top surgeons and doctors and other medical staff. Many well heeled business types reside in the area - it demands a certain level of culinary excellence and GG delivers. The World Loves Melbourne attended a media launch of GG.

Pinocchio's Pizza Restaurant is a fabulous Italian restaurant in trendy South Yarra that has recently undergone a transformation of note. After 40 years of successful trading the restaurant has lost its 70s mission brown and straw roofing for a modern fit out with stunning Pinocchio themed art work on the walls, modern lighting and panelling, and one of the coolest vibes in the precinct.

The illustrations of Pinocchio from the 1883 classic tale are compelling - and tell a story of one of the owners, John Gdanski, who treasured a vintage copy of the book as a boy. It's the charming vintage illustrations that are reproduced on the walls - rather than the Disney looking Pinocchio some of us are familiar with.

The menu at Pinocchio's has also been revamped. New chefs and an imaginative menu have made Pinocchio's more than pasta and pizza. In saying this, both the pasta and pizza are great. Pinocchio's provides an authentic Italian dining experience including ingredients sourced from Italy.

Top Melbourne and Australian chef Shane Delia is featuring in a groundbreaking upcoming SBS series Spice Journey which celebrates the cuisine of the Middle East. This is a series not to miss, beginning May 2 at 7.30pm. The World Loves Melbourne was privileged to attend the media launch at Gold Class Village Cinemas to preview the series and experience dishes from one of the episodes from Shane Delia. Not a bad gig!

Shane Delia’s Spice Journey takes us on a culinary pilgrimage to explore his heritage and discover food traditions that go back thousands of years. From the old Phoenician outpost of Malta, where the aromatics and spices of the Middle East mingle with the European traditions of the Mediterranean, Shane heads across the sea to Lebanon, the original Land of Milk and Honey and birthplace of contemporary Middle Eastern mezze.

I managed to snap a photo of Shane (below) on the big screen in between culinary indulgences. As we watched the episode we were able to experience dishes from places like Tripoli and even sample popcorn with Middle Eastern spices...

The aroma of a Spanish paella is so alluring. The recently revamped Pop Restaurant in Hardware Lane is a serious destination for paella lovers. On Tuesday nights Pop Restaurant is serving up paella from a massive pan imported from Spain. Head Chef Manuel Villegas is the king of paella and can be seen preparing and serving the paella to customers. It's always exciting to see a Chef spending time out of the kitchen interacting with customers.

We checked out the paella as guests of Pop Restaurant. Over the years I've been a big fan of the paella enjoying it all over the world. I love paella not just for the culinary bliss, but for the whole communal aspect of it. I understand the paella is a tradition in the countryside and streets of Spain where it's often out in the open for all to see. Paella is at the heart of community.

Circa The Prince, the darling of the Melbourne restaurant scene, has launched a superb Yakitori Bar as a pop up from April 6 to May 6, with the influence and design of Paul Wilson, chef extraordinaire.

For mine it was the bao selection that proved the highlight. With seemingly hundreds of guests at the launch I proved myself adept at securing several Tea smoked duck and quince with bush plum sauce bao.

FOG is an impressive fine dining restaurant in Prahran with modern upmarket decor and sexy cuisine with American influences. After an epic night at their monthly regional dinner celebrating the tastes of New England I left FOG ebullient and on a high.

My ebullience was partly due to the dreamy decor and the dreamy music being played. This place elicited the Great American Dream, even though we were in Prahran.

U-Village is a modern Asian fusion restaurant that impresses with its class decor and top notch cuisine. The modern fittings, soft wood and potted greenery make it as fresh as the food served. U-Village began in 2003 with a restaurant in Malaysia, now bringing the best of Asian fusion to St Kilda. 

U-Village has created a brilliant dining atmosphere that it describes as "smart and relaxed". With quality decor, funky lighting and a rice theme that extends to painting on the walls and laser embedded into the wall seat, the ambience is gorgeous, light filled and upmarket. Offering lunch specials, banquets, and impressive dinner options, U-Village is a standout restaurant that caters for all.

Soft grey walls and bright poppys, a wonderful ambience to our eating experience.

Pop Restaurant in Hardware Lane has undergone a rennaisance with addition of Executive Head Chef Manuel Villegas, a new team and an impressive new menu featuring Spanish and Italian cuisine.

With years of history including an art gallery, Pop Restaurant offers a stunning ambience in Hardware Lane. Come here for breakfast, lunch or dinner and Pop Restaurant (and Hardware Lane) pulsates with atmosphere. Musicians performing at night add to the ambience in the Lane.

Manager Greg Mahoney has been a restaurateur for many years and is passionate about providing a great experience for diners. With the advent of Manuel Villegas, one of Australia's best chefs, and a menu which highlights Mediterranean cusine rather than just Italian, we were keen to sample and experience the changes at Pop Restaurant.

We arrived on day one of the new Pop menu. Normally we allow restaurants to settle in where there's major changes, but the team at Pop were at the top of their game.

Station Hotel in Footscray is dude food heaven and a serious steak destination. This is one of the great hotels of Melbourne bringing the ambience of yesteryear with a modern twist. The outside appearance of the Station Hotel is preserved and is classic. Then you enter a charming establishment with two distinctive dining areas - the formal dining and the casual bar area. To be honest I'm impressed with the casual area - the only difference is the decor is a bit more low key and the music slightly louder. The menu is the same for both areas. I chose to dine in the casual area (with the office worker punters) - which featured impressive timber panelling and vintage timber floor.

Station Hotel is famous for their premium steaks and hand cut chips - serious meat territory for all steak lovers in Melbourne. Or should I say it's a Black Angus haven - the predominant premium meat here. Tempting to grab some 100 day grain or grass fed Black Angus...

But as I was working nearby (actually across the road) I was able to glean some local knowledge. I'm told by locals the lunch specials are also famous. So I ventured to Station Hotel to enjoy the lunch special of Steak sandwich and Soup of the day. Wow. This is great value. The soup was a creamy mushroom - superb texture and richness. It was served also with several slices of fresh bread and a small plate of butter.

Albert Street Food and Wine is a serious hatted (The Age Good Food Guide) foodie destination and was the perfect venue to showcase the skills of Melbourne chef Philippa Sibley and international celebrity chef from New Zealand Annabel Langbein (known as "The Free Range Cook") as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. 

Albert Street Food and Wine is a spacious restaurant housed in a heritage building on Sydney Road Brunswick and has a superb ambience of finery and modern fit out. There were 100 guests at this function dialling in to the amazing story of Annabel Langbein and to experience a menu put together with stellar dishes from both Philippa and Annabel.

Celebrating the unique rivalry between Melbourne's North and South sides, on the Easter weekend for the 5th consecutive year, Bimbo Deluxe (North) and Lucky Coq (South) will showcase the best in electronic culture, visual entertainment, food, booze and sound in the Best of Both Sides Festival.

For seven glorious days (25-31 March) both venues will offer 14 different events, with free courtesy buses running in between. Canvassing a multitude of musical styles from house to hip-hop, rock to blues, garage to electro, this year's round up includes up-and-comers DJ Who, Silversix and Uone, as well as Melbourne stalwarts Ransom, Tigerfunk and Kasey Taylor.

Look out for familiar faces - Boogs, Spacey Space and Muska as well as over 50 different acts and 13 live performances including visual DJ’s who will produce a projection spectacular. How much will this plethora of hedonistic good-times cost? Not a cent... The Bimbo and Lucky philosophy has long-been ‘always free, always fun’ and they're not about to change that now.

Bimbo Deluxe - 376 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

Are you a lover of finery and classy hand made chocolate? When it comes to gourmet subscriptions the crew at agendaselects.com have it covered. They're teaming up with Ganache to provide a superb chocolate subscription - delivered to your door each month.

We were able to taste the Easter theme Ganache chocolate offering and it was the perfect indulgence. For a start this month's selection came in an attractive red Ganache bag to keep the product in top notch condition. This bag is something we will keep and use over and over...

Inside the bag was a range of superb chocolate including individual hand made chocolates, Easter Egg component and a variety that was great value. This is the best chocolate in Melbourne. Why consume average standard chocolate over Easter when you can order the best!

Foodies can travel the culinary world through Feasting in Footscray, a series of events for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, running 1-11 March.

Ethiopian, Vietnamese, Chinese and Cambodian cuisine will be plated up, celebrating Footscray’s multicultural history, authentic dining experiences and two fresh food markets.

Those yet to discover the hands-on Ethiopian cuisine can sign up for A Cultural Blend: The Origins of Coffee and Ethiopian Spices, where they will learn how to scoop up spicy slow cooked meat and vegetable dishes with bubbly injera bread while experiencing a traditional coffee ceremony.

Diners looking for a meal with a difference can hop on their own personal rickshaw for a six course dash about town on theRickshaw Run, touring the best Vietnamese restaurants, exploring the Vietnamese market and learning how to make rice paper rolls.