Though you may think you have already outgrown your obsession with garlic bread, you haven’t. It’s not something that ever goes away. Lifting that foil from Domino’s and letting that fragrant garlic butter smack you in the face is forever going to be one of the most exciting moments in your career as a culinary connoisseur. Imagine then, how exciting it’s going to be to walk into the 13,000-square-foot food truck mecca of Welcome To Thornbury and giving yourself over to a bonafide Garlic Bread Festival, exclusive to the Melbourne venue and set for Saturday, April 30th.
Yeah, a Garlic Bread Festival. It may not be the most sophisticated event on Melbourne’s social calendar, but you’re kidding yourself if you aren’t at least intrigued. How many possible ways can one celebrate garlic bread? Turns out, quite a lot. At least more than those pillow-soft pieces of Domino’s garlic bread would have you believe.
Much like last year’s Bavarian Schnitty Festival or the All-You-Can-Eat-Fries Festival, the benevolent god of carb-loading is once again taking a casual food favourite and stretching it beyond its limits, testing the waters to see just how much people really love their comfort food.
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As with most niche food festivals in Australia, Welcome To Thornbury’s Garlic Bread Festival has roped in some of the city’s most reliable food trucks to experiment with the holy trinity of garlic, bread, and butter to come up with new ways to enjoy the treat.
Local businesses like Nuggies, Chef Calamari, Sparrows Philly Cheese, Mr Burger, Porcupine Eatery, and Lardass Butter will be posted up at Welcome To Thornbury from 12 PM on the day. Between them all, you’ll have your pick of both classic and experimental garlic bread creations including garlic bread burgers, garlic bread cheesesteaks, garlic bread arancini, and a few stalls breaking it all down to just either garlic, bread, or butter so you can purchase some artisanal produce and try to create some new garlic bread expressions at home.
The most disgustingly fascinating of the bunch will be what Welcome To Thornbury describes as Garlic Bread Bloody Mary’s. No details are offered beyond this but taking your loosest mate and daring him to drink it will no doubt be the only way to cap the Garlic Bread Festival the right way. Given its all free entry, there’s nothing to lose but whatever shreds of dignity you have left after working your way through all that garlic, butter and bread.
The Melbourne Garlic Bread Festival kicks off at 12 PM on Saturday, April 30th at Welcome To Thornbury – 520 High St Northcote.
