National Pretzel Day – Sydney Melbourne Brisbane It’s National Pretzel Day on Thursday 26th April and Munich Bavarian and The Bavarian have taken their legendary pretzels to the next level. For one day only these hand-crafted salted morsels will be served with a mouth-watering side of beer flavoured cheese dipping sauce ($6). Beer cheese dip … Read more
Royal Stacks – Collins Street, Melbourne – 14 May Get Quietly Stacked: Monday 14 May Burger and beer lovers can indulge in a special, one-off event, as part of Good Beer Week 2018 when Royal Stacks Collins Street teams up with Victorian brewery Quiet Deeds on Monday 14 May. Guests can expect a sit-down dinner … Read more
Baroq House recently welcomedguests to celebrate ‘Melbourne After Work’, at the 2018 season opening of Baroq House Fridays.
Premium beverages and canapés were available at the launch, along with complimentary live oyster shucking, live music, DJ’s and entertainment.
Baroq House is a luxury 3 level Melbourne lounge bar and function venue offering 4 bars, providing the perfect place to chill out with friends and work colleagues at the end of the working week.
With Friday drinks now sorted thanks to Baroq House Fridays, this glam setting may also be the spot to play host to your next corporate event or special occasion.
Wine and Cheese Fest – Meat Market, North Melbourne 17th March 2018 Words by Celeste Iuliano Images Courtesy of Thomas Bindley It’s early on St Patrick’s Day, and a buzzing crowd is starting to gather on the street outside North Melbourne’s iconic Meat Market. Usually they’d be heading to the pub next door for a … Read more
Dandenong Market will host its seventh annual Dandenong World Fare on Sunday 25 March as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival program.
Dandenong World Fair will capture the 150-plus nationalities from the City of Greater Dandenong region on a plate, with dishes from Argentina, Tibet, China, Cambodia through to Belgium and more.
This year is expected to be Dandenong Market’s biggest World Fare yet, with over 51 food trucks and street stalls transforming the market into a pop-up food bazaar with live music, dancing and plenty of free kids activities.
A Taste of the Middle East – Bar Saracen Opens in Melbourne CBD
Bar Saracen is the creation of Joseph Abboud, who owns and runs Lygon street institution Rumi, and Moor’s Head restaurants, together with Front of House pro, Ari Vlassopoulous. They have recruited Tom Sarafian to head the kitchen. Tom has been working with Joseph at Rumi for the past three years and his CV includes Mo Mo in Melbourne and St Johns and Moro in London, amongst others.
Saracen is a word, initially meaning anyone from the Middle East, but then during the Crusades it came to mean an Arab from the Middle East. Ironically, the Arabs didn’t know they were being called Saracen.
With Joseph’s heritage from Lebanon and Ari’s from Greece, they both liked the word and its meaning, and settled on this as the name of their first joint venture.
For the menu, Joseph and Tom began dabbling in more refined Middle Eastern dishes at Rumi and will evolve these ideas at Bar Saracen, including a range of mezze, barbecue and larger dishes, and sweets. In time there will be a tasting menu available.
In creating their new restaurant and transforming the space that was once Rosa’s Kitchen, Joseph and Ari have been busy knocking down walls – Joe is good with a hammer while Ari is better with a brush, painting the place with whatever was in his parent’s garage.
Bar Saracen is now a fifty-odd seat restaurant with banquettes, a private table, a bar that can seat eight, and window tables with stools to watch the passing parade.
A couple of beers on tap, others in in bottles and cans; wine is a short list of Australian and imported wines, with the imported varieties coming from wherever Arabs have been: Spain, Southern Italy, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, and more, with a few pleasant surprises thrown in.
Bar Saracen opens Tuesday to Friday for lunch and dinner, and Saturday for dinner only.
Joseph and Ari suggest people drop in for a drink and a snack, a quick meal before the theatre, or stay for the tasting menu or more if they want.
Prince Alfred Hotel – Carlton, Melbourne The 100 Burgers Group (Welcome to Thornbury, Belles Hot Chicken, Mr Burger) is excited to unveil the newly reimagined Prince Alfred Hotel on Grattan Street, Carlton, on Thursday 15th February. The 100 Burgers Group, along with the Prince Alfred Collective, took over the 450-person space last year with grand plans for the iconic … Read more
St Patrick’s Day – P.J. O’Brien’s Southgate Melbourne – 16th to 18th March The one day of the year when everyone wishes they were Irish! Australia’s leading Irish pub P.J.O’Brien’s is hosting Melbourne’s biggest party, transforming the celebration of St Patrick into a three-day extravaganza from Friday 16 March – Sunday 18 March, at the … Read more
The World’s Best BBQ Chef – Charlie McKenna – will be arriving in Melbourne for the first time next week. Direct from Chicago, Charlie is bringing his award-winning restaurant Lillie’s Q to the heart of Melbourne. For just three days, Australians will have their first chance ever to try his award winning, meat-sweat inducing BBQ … Read more
Wine and Cheese Fest – A Celebration of the Senses
Quite literally, a sensory overload is expected to hit again at the Meat Market in North Melbourne on Saturday 17 March 2018. The Wine & Cheese Fest is back, and looking to delight all your senses all over again. Is there a better base than combining Wine and Cheese, to start off from on this foodie adventure?
There are over 30 quality exhibitors preparing to showcase and share their artisan products on the day. From wheels of fine cheeses and savoury sauces, to home-style pastries, pickled preserves, smoked and cured meats, luscious desserts, and of course a huge array of wine, ciders and beers for all palates, the Wine & Cheese Fest is a tantalising feast for both the taste buds and smell receptors.
With the senses of taste and smell taken care of, the focus will be on the sense of hearing, and as always, the Wine and Cheese Fest is accompanied by live jazz music entertainment as well as a DJ in the courtyard area. For a more private and personal audible treat the clinking of glasses will not go amiss.
If the sight of the delicious food and wine is not enough to feed the eyes, the heritage building of Meat Market should certainly provide for that wow effect. From the detailed ceiling to the cobble floors, it is truly a unique environment which will certainly add to the magic of the event.
Lastly, holding those glasses, and nibbling from those cheese boards, with the different foods and their textures, will ensure the sense of touch isn’t left out. It will certainly tie everything together and ignite all the senses, which when combined will produce a feeling than is greater than the sum of its parts. At Wine and Cheese Fest is is simply known as happiness.
If that’s not enough, there is much more to this and includes Masterclasses (included in your tickets). Learn how mozzarella is made by Giorgio from That’s Amore, learn about wine making from some of the industry leaders, learn about wine and cheese matching.
Also, the famous and unmissable Grape Stomp Comp is back, and will see keen stompers competing for the prize of the best stomper, squeezing out the grape juice in the original way…quite an insta moment! And not to forget – there will be a ‘kids zone’ for the youngest ones (Note: kids enter for free but must be accompanied at all times!).
Tickets for this event are available for both the morning and afternoon sessions, and entry includes a Festival glass to take home. A range of ticket options are available to choose from, such as the General Entry including tokens for tastings, Wine Indulgence tickets including a quality boutique wine bottle (RRP$25+) provided by our partners at the Chirping Bird Winery on the Mornington Peninsula, and, introducing Last Minute entry tickets for those that just want to grab some last minute bottles or cheese wheels to take home. Book early for discounted ticket prices.
