Top Picks for Good Food Month from The World Loves Melbourne
Here are our top picks for Good Food Month from The World Loves Melbourne...
1. Indigenous Dinner @ Altair Restaurant, Warrandyte
Best fine dining value for money at Good Food Month! Head chef Kelvin Shaw presents a stunning seven-course dining experience showcasing indigenous ingredients from our sunburnt land paired with local produce. The value is amazing; a 7 course degustation for only $70! Altair's Indigenous Dinner is to be held on November 10 from 7pm to 11.30pm - plenty of time for the culinary journey to evolve. (Book your table for this outstanding degustation.) Recent events at Altair have been sold out (including an epic Crab Dinner) so get in quick.
Altair Restaurant recently received 14.5 rating from The Age Good Food Guide making it the highest rated restaurant in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and no 2 when compared to nearby Yarra Valley restaurants. Comments in the Good Food Guide included Head Chef Kelvin Shaw's "flavour combinations are playful and forward thinking." The Good Food Guide also described Altair as a "haven of culinary ambition." A playful comment was that it is worth "leaving zone one" for!
Apart from innovative dining from the ever evolving menu Altair is well known for it's stunning events attracting rave reviews.
Kelvin (Head Chef) and Michelle (Manager, Front of House) Shaw are a crack team, who exude innovation and hospitality. Altair has built up a large following of locals and regulars from across Melbourne. The dining experience is such that there is a lot of repeat customers, passionate about the food, ambience and service. Kelvin is also famous for his brilliant use of native ingredients - from berries to saltbush, Warrigal greens and native river mint, to the use of bush tomatoes.
The food at Altair is top notch; this is fine dining in the eastern suburbs. They destroy the myth that you have to travel into the city of Melbourne for fine dining. Think loads of technique and innovative dishes such as the Goat and charred vegetable pie, or the Carpaccio entrees...
The Corned lamb, carrot, quinoa, celeriac, lavender jus is a perennial favourite.
New dishes on the menu include Green olive & white bean tortellini, eucalypt & pine needle. Or check out the Black Angus rump cap, fried tongue, tendon crisp, roast bone marrow, horseradish, pomegranate, native pepperberry jus, or indeed the Seared marlin, coffee cured marlin belly, sesame, pickled seaweed, fermented pepper & finger lime for example.
Altair Restaurant recently received an excellent review from leading Melbourne bloggers Gastrology, who wrote they "left spellbound - from the amazingly tender lamb to the enticing smoked eel. Each course was well thought out, complex, delightfully balanced and impeccably executed."
Date: Sunday, 10 November
Location: 152 Yarra St Warrandyte
Price: $70 for 7 courses
Booking: (03) 9844 5548
2. Marque @ Pei
Mark Best brings 'Marque' to Melbourne for one night only
Experience a modernist degustation of flavours, ingredients and textures that has seen Marque develop a reputation as having one of Australia's most innovative and interesting menus. Mark will be joined by special guests, Matt Germanchis, Victor Liong (Head Chef at Lee Ho Fook and Marque Alumnus) and Ainslie Lubbock.
Monday 16 November
6:00pm; 7:30pm or 9:00pm bookings
$165/person
Mark Best started out as an electrician in the gold mines of Western Australia before picking up the knives at age 25. Following time in some of the best restaurants in the world such as l’Arpege in Paris and Le Manoir aux Quatre Saisons, Best returned to Sydney in 1999 to open Marque. Since its inception, Marque has received numerous accolades, including three inclusions on San Pellegrino’s 50 Best Restaurants in the World list.
Marque @ Pei is part of The Melbourne Food & Wine Festival's Good Food Month in November.
Call 03 9654 8545 to reserve your table
3. Sally Boy w Gingerboy and Saigon Sally
A must-do for all Asian street-food enthusiasts, Sally Boy will be a heated flavour battle between the CBD's iconic Gingerboy and Windsor favourite, Saigon Sally. Meeting under the same roof for the first time, the two restaurants will present signature cocktails and their best dishes over four courses. Saigon Sally Executive Chef, Adrian Li will put his years of practice up against Gingerboy’s main man, Leigh Power. Guests will have a chance to meet each chef and will be then able to decide for themselves which of the two is Melbourne’s king of street food.
Date: Thursday, 19 November
Location: Saigon Sally, 2 Duke Street, Windsor
Price: $95
Booking: (03) 9533 2342
4. Jacques Reymond @ L'Hotel Gitan
GITAN Join hospitality legend Jacques Reymond for a five-course feast at their one-year-old gastro French pub, L'Hotel Gitan, for this year’s Good Food Month. On two separate Saturdays throughout November, experience the exquisite cuisine of one of the world’s most lauded chefs, and meet him face-to-face. Jacques will prepare five courses showcasing his traditional French style at $105 a head, with an additional $95 for matched wines.
Date: Saturday 7 and Saturday 21 November 2015
Location: 32 Commercial Road, Prahran
Price: $105 a head with optional wine match at $95 a head Bookings: (03) 9999 0990
5. BBQ @ The Bistro
The long-awaited arrival of spring signifies the beginning of barbeque season and to celebrate, Northcote dining gem Estelle Bistro has organised a series of sizzling Friday lunches. For just $40, diners will enjoy two courses and a beer or glass of wine, with a different cut of meat roasted on a spit in the courtyard each week. A sample menu includes an entrée of spring vegetable salad and smoked lamb brisket, followed by barbecue Flinders Island Lamb rump, smoked pommé puree and asparagus.
Dates: Fridays in November
Time: Bookings from 12pm
Location: 243 High Street, Northcote
Price: $40 Bookings: (03) 9489 4609
5. Italian Food Feud @ A25
Italian restaurateur Remo Nicolini of A25 and lauded chef Joseph Vargetto of Mister Bianco will battle it out at A25 Pizzeria in South Yarra, umpired by the great Scott – Raymond Capaldi. The Italian Food Feud will see the chefs go head to head in a pizza vs. pasta battle, with a four-course feast to decide which Italian specialty reigns. The $99 ticket price is inclusive of matched beverages as well as the feast.
Date: Wednesday, 25 November
Location: A25 Pizzeria, 720 Chapel Street, South Yarra
Price: $99
Bookings: (03) 9826 2233