Sushi Boto, a concept brought to you by the team behind White Mojo, is a top notch sushi experience in Melbourne in the heart of the Melbourne CBD. Sushi Boto is bringing a sense of fun to Melbourne dining and The World Loves Melbourne was invited along to sample the menu at the recently opened ‘Street Eats’ extension at St Collins Lane. Are you down with sushi trains? How about sushi boats? Navy blue hand crafted sushi boats diligently chug along the Sushi Boto stream and offer delicious freshly made umami plates to customers.
Stalactites and Hella Good are excited to be the nation’s first Greek restaurants to be accredited by Coeliac Australia. With over 1/4 million Australians living with coeliac disease, and many more on gluten-free diets, this will be welcome news for many Melbournians.
Maha Restaurant has just launched a new lunch menu and Chef Shane Delia invited The World Loves Melbourne to join him for an exclusive preview in the Maha intimate private dining room. I have to say this new menu stirred my enthusiasm and imagination in bringing Middle Eastern flavours in a fun way but with a serious intentionality around flavour and texture.
Chef Paul Cooper has returned home to Victoria and bought Bianchet Winery in the Yarra Valley, operating two venues within the space, to accommodate casual and more formal dining rooms. Cooper, who moved to Sydney in 2012 to open Bishop Sessa in Surry Hills returned home to Melbourne in 2018. And he is bringing exciting developments to Yarra Valley!
Good Food Month presented by Citi returns to Melbourne in June with several incredible feature events, consisting of exclusive dinner experiences and tantalising lunches held at this year’s Good Food Month Restaurant at Canvas House, South Melbourne.
The diverse and inspiring program once again welcomes one of the world’s biggest culinary legends, Marco Pierre White, alongside Australia’s hottest homegrown talent including Andrew McConnell, Phil Wood, Matt Stone, Paul Iskov and Joel Valvasori-Pereza. Tickets are on sale now atwww.goodfoodmonth.com/melbourne
Berwick’s award-winning steak restaurant MPD Steak Kitchen has launched a pop up in the CBD, and The World Loves Melbourne was invited along as a guest. With rave reviews and award winning dishes, we were keen to experience popular signature dishes that featured steak, but not just steak.
Food Truck lovers rejoice, your time has come again. This April, Birrarung Marr will once again transform into the temporary home of the biggest gathering of Melbourne’s street-food vendors as The Food Truck FestivalTM returns for another huge year!
Middle South East Cafe in South Yarra is a popular destination on Chapel St and The World Loves Melbourne was invited to experience brunch. The menu combines classic brunch options with Middle Eastern influences, and we found the offerings to be imaginative and impressive.
Emporium Melbourne showcased its quality and diversity in food and wine with a fabulous Progressive Dinner in celebrating the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. A highlight was the curated experience and narration from Alexia Petsinis. While Emporium Melbourne is a popular shopping hotspot it is also a premium foodie hotspot. As we were to discover.
Riverside Crawl N Bite was a spectacular event for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival and the World Loves Melbourne was invited along by Visit Melbourne. It was a privilege to be included (@theworldlovesmelbourne) in a "best instagrammers of Melbourne" group with @forksake and @thecitylane.
Regional World's Longest Lunch at Mitchelton Wines for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival was a spectacular event on a sun drenched day. This was a sold out lunch featuring top notch food and wine, and I was also blessed afterwards with dinner at Muse Restaurant and a stay in MGallery The Mitchelton Hotel. A walk in the town of Nagambie the next day completed a full experience and celebration of the region.
Gabriel Cafe is a bright cafe expression infused with hipster cool on Gertrude Street Fitzroy. The World Loves Melbourne was invited along to experience the modern menu. We had previously visited other incarnations (notably De Clieu) of this cafe space and been impressed. Gabriel captures Melbourne chic and the menu is on trend with a healthier style of eating.
Written by David Hagger, client Merricks Creek on .
Merricks Creek Winery is a family run boutique winery and at Vintage time it's super busy with "all hands on deck". Merricks Creek is a bespoke winery where the winemaking is mostly done by hand and there's a heavy influence of Burgundy wine processes in producing standout Merricks Creek Pinot Noir. Merricks Creek is a great winery to visit when travelling to the Mornington Peninsula, with its standout wines, gourmet share plates and stunning views; and is a gem of Victoria.
Melbourne’s most popular late-night entertainment precincts will be awash with colour over the coming weeks as three stunning, public light installations light up the streets of Melbourne all in the name of changing alcohol culture. The World Loves Melbourne is inspired by this initiative; even though we enjoy a couple of drinks we discourage "risky drinking" and love the positive message of this campaign. The installations are bringing a positive message in a relevant, modern and creative way. (photo credit David Hannah). Check out @whatsyourstorymelb #WYSMELB.
The Prosecco Festival is back! Returning to the Northcote Town Arts Centre on Feb 23! This is a popular unique festival purely dedicated to Prosecco with 40 Proseccos on tasting as well as compelling food offerings to pair. After the inaugural Prosecco Festival last year, which was a smash it, the festival returns even bigger and brighter!
Grab your tickets to Cinema at the 'G by Bank of Melbourne, a feature of the Melbourne summer. Many of us have visited the MCG for sporting fixtures or concerts but enjoying cinema at the MCG is also amazing.
Calia has opened in Chadstone bringing a casual and accessible premium curated dining experience to Chadstone Shopping centre. The World Loves Melbourne was invited along to experience the menu, dining with Rita Erlich (Melbourne food identity and author), Morri Behrmann (Oliveria Wholesale and Oliveriamel) and his son Aidan. In summary I felt all the dishes were hits, no misses. In fact it was hard to define the best of the dishes as they all stood out, however the Wagyu Bowl, Smoked Salmon Sashimi and the Matcha Lava Cake were outstanding. Sumptuous but affordable (you don't have to pay big dollars to experience the tasting menu).
Written by David Hagger, client Merricks Creek on .
Where to go to get outstanding platters at a winery? Fortunately we've visited tons of wineries in Victoria and experienced some great platters. Here are some of our favourites.
Yu Kitchen has already made a huge impact as a Chinese restaurant that respects tradition, but brings a modern twist to dishes for a first class curated experience.
After a wonderful recent Yum Cha experience at Yu Kitchen on the day it opened in Chadstone Shopping Centre, The World Loves Melbourne was invited along to experience dinner at Yu Kitchen. It was a pleasure to dine with Morri Behrmann from Stonebarn Truffles with wife Raya from The Ruby Report, and Alex and Rita Erlich (Melbourne foodie identity and author).
Le Petit Chef the 3D Mapping dining sensation has come to Melbourne and it's fabulous. The people behind Restaurant Lume and Cardigan Place Cellars are hosting this global phenomenon, putting their own interpretation on the experience. The World Loves Melbourne was invited along to experience Le Petit Chef first hand.
Carlton Wine Room has received rave reviews and widespread acclaim since it re-launched. The revamped venue has nailed the brief on quintessential Melbourne with a classy fit out without being ostentatious, and a nod to the local in terms of design and foodie offerings, as part of the Carlton renaissance. The World Loves Melbourne was invited to experience lunch at Carlton Wine Room, and was highly impressed.
Yu Kitchen is a top notch restaurant in the Chadstone Luxury Precinct that takes fine dining at Chadstone to another level. The World Loves Melbourne was invited by Morri Behrmann of Stonebarn Truffles and General Manager, Oliveria to the Grand Launch. Yu Kitchen is a joint venture between The Oriental & Ruyi Group in Malaysia and Calia Collective of Australia. The entire menu is a curated collective of experiences. We also visited Calia which is directly below Yu Kitchen, both venues launching on the same day.
