The Melbourne Food & Wine Festival is back for 2022, celebrating its 30th year of spotlighting some of Australia’s best one-off culinary experiences with 14 days of events, special guests, and chef takeovers. In previous years, the MFWF has been one of the more widely acclaimed food festivals in the country, powered primarily by the best restaurants in Melbourne like Tipo 00, Bar Margaux, Attica, and MoVida.
This year will be no exception, as MFWF plans a huge comeback to make up for the past two years of limbo, deadset on reminding locals and visitors that the former world’s most liveable city still gets plenty of its punch for the tireless hospitality industry and the producers that make Melbourne the world-class culinary destination it is. It’ll all kick off on Friday, March 25 and wrap up on Saturday, April 9.
While there are quite a few events being planned for Melbourne Food & Wine Festival 2022, we’ve highlighted what we think are the most unmissable of the lot. From a steak-focused food program celebrating long lunch at some of the best steak restaurants in Melbourne, and an unusual all-you-can-eat chips party, to sitting down for a Sunday lunch with the inimitable Nigella Lawson, to a very unique artisanal convenience store pop-up, these are the best things to do during the 2022 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.
RELATED: Nigella Lawson, Domestic Goddess, Returns To Australia For Two Intimate Live Shows
What To Eat & Drink At Melbourne Food & Wine Festival
High Steaks
High Steaks is its own series within the festival, taking place across the first week of April at some of Melbourne’s best steak restaurants including Rockpool, Chancery Lane, Bar Margaux, Epocha, and Prince Dining Room. Even the new Victor Churchill store will be getting in on the action, where all participating restaurants will be bringing back the art of the long lunch with special menus featuring the finest quality cuts sourced across Victoria, paired with regional wines and a special 3608 Nagmabie Gin martini.
When: Friday 1 April – Friday 8 April
Where: Various locations
Price: Various prices
Maximum Chips
Chips come in all shapes and sizes, but when you commit to a bucket or basket of fries, you’re typically only getting one kind. Maximum Chips emphasise variety, showcasing fried potato in all its forms, from crinkle-cut and shoestring to classic French fry and the underrated potato gem.
Maximum Chips is one of the mainstays of the annual Melbourne Food & Wine Festival for good reason, hosting a one-night-only party where all the chips you could possibly want are featured on the night along with DJs, a saucing (and salting) station, and Australian wine from Hey Tomorrow.
Note the price includes one welcome drink, entertainment, and all-you-can-eat chips.
When: Friday March 25 (5 pm – 7 pm OR 7:45 pm – 9:45 pm)
Where: E Shed, Queen Victoria Market
Price: $35 pp
Sunday Lunch With Nigella
For the 2022 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, the event’s special international guest is none other than Nigella Lawson. The English chef and food personality will be hosting a three-course lunch at Federation Square’s ZINC, where the ticket price will include a cocktail and snacks on arrival, the feast designed by Nigella herself, and various paired drinks. Former MasterChef judge Matt Preston will be co-hosting the event and with a Q&A session exploring Nigella’s relationship with cooking and food.
When: Sunday March 27 (12 pm – 3 pm)
Where: ZINC, Federation Square
Price: $285 pp
The Convenient Store
Taking cues from New York’s bodegas, Berlin’s spatis, and the eternally fascinating realm of Japanese corner stores, The Convenient Store is one of the more unique pop-ups at the 2022 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival. Co-presented with 7-Eleven, the special convenient store will be a temporary fixture of Queen Victoria Market for 8 days, taking a decidedly gourmet and artisanal approach to the classic convenient store with a daily-changing array of snacks including a sorbet version of MoVida’s smoked tomato tapa, prawn cocktail-flavoured Chappy’s chips with Yarra Valley Caviar, hot cross buns from To Be Frank, dim sum sausage rolls from Pie Thief, and more. There’ll even be a 7-Eleven sushi train with onigiri, maki and nigiri to try and bring the atmosphere of a typical Tokyo Family Mart to Melbourne.
When: Friday March 26 – Sunday April 3 (8 am – 7 pm)
Where: Queen Victoria Market
Price: Various prices
Two Islands, One Dream
Now that he’s closed-up shop at The Star Sydney, capping an acclaimed run at Caribbean fine-diner Momofuku Seiobo, Paul Carmichael will be guesting at MFWF alongside Belles Hot Chicken mastermind Morgan McGlone. Drawing on their respective heritages – Paul representing Barbados, and Morgan representing the island of Niue – the two will be hosting a one-off food and drink party at Hope St Radio in Collingwood, with drinks, live music, and snacks worked up in collaboration with the eccentric wine and pasta bar.
It’s not every day you’d find a hungry blend of Caribbean and Pasifika cultures served up on a plate, making this one of the stand-outs of the 2022 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival Chef Series.
When: Sunday, April 3 (4 pm – 10 pm)
Where: 35 Johnston St, Collingwood VIC 3066
Price: $85 pp
World’s Longest Lunch
This year, the World’s Longest Lunch will be headlined by Attica’s Ben Shewry, building on a legacy that stretches back to 1993 when MFWF’s signature event made its debut at the MCG. Now located at Treasury Gardens, the 2022 World’s Longest Lunch will take place across a 600-metre table winding through the picturesque location with a three-course lunch. Tahbilk will supply the wine, while beer will come from Brick Lane, and coffee from Coffex. The event is always a sell-out by the time Melbourne Food & Wine Festival kicks off so a hasty booking is recommended.
When: Friday, March 25 (12 pm – 4 pm)
Where: 2-18 Spring Street, East Melbourne
Price: $225 pp
The Big Spaghetti
Hosted across two days, The Big Spaghetti will be highlighting nothing but good cheese and even better pasta, hooking up with some of the best Italian restaurants in Melbourne for a stall-style, street food pop-up market. The wafting aromas of cacio e pepe and spaghetti will be served up alongside offerings from the city’s best cheesemakers, which includes a 40 kg wheel of Grana Padano which will probably dominate the olfactory ambience of the event. Stalls will be propped up from the likes of Tipo 00, That’s Amore, Mr Bianco, Marameo, Lagotto, Agostino, Al Dente, Pastore, Bar Americano, Pipapdio, Pizzini, and more.
When: Sunday, April 2 (11 am – 8 pm); Sunday, April 3 (11 am – 5 pm)
Where: E Shed, Queen Victoria Market
Price: Free entry
New Crush
Across two sessions on one day, Melbourne Food & Wine Festival will introduce a new kind of boozy party with five different zones of stalls split into wine, spirits, beer, cider, and NoLo drinks (that is, no-to-low alcohol drinks). It’s sounding like your typical drinks showcase format, where you’ll be given four hours to run around to the various producers and get your fill of all the snacks, drinks, and live music you could possibly fit in. The admission price will net you a free tasting across each of the party’s five zones, which is a reasonable shout for $40.
When: Saturday, April 9 (12 pm – 4 pm OR 5 pm – 9 pm)
Where: E Shed, Queen Victoria Market
Price: $40 pp
Snacktown
Snacktown is another stall-style market pop-up that’ll take over E Shed at Queen Victoria Market across two days, with sights set on celebrating Melbourne’s multicultural dining scene. As per the name, different kinds of snacks will be available from some of the city’s top culinary talent, curated by Grampians and Pyrenees as a tribute to Melbourne’s eating culture. Much like the best food markets in Australia, from Darwin’s Parap Market to Sydney’s Carriageworks Farmers Market, this will be a session best spent by trying some of the more obscure foods you wouldn’t usually stumble upon during your daily routine. We’re talking herby dadami from Persia, mackerel dumplings from Seoul, and Filipino bagels.
When: Saturday, March 26 (11 am – 8 pm); Sunday, March 27 (11 am – 5 pm)
Where: E Shed, Queen Victoria Market
Price: Free entry
If you can’t wait until the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival to start eating your way around the city’s finest, check out our rolling round-up of the best new restaurants in Melbourne.
Melbourne Food & Wine Festival 2022 – Frequently Asked Questions
When is the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival?
The 2022 edition of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival will kick off on Friday, March 25 and wrap up on Saturday, April 9.
Who is the special international guest chef at this year's Melbourne Food & Wine Festival
Noted English chef and food writer Nigella Lawson will be the headlining guest at the 2022 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.
What are the best events of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival 2022?
The best events for MFWF this year are Maximum Chips, Sunday lunch with Nigella Lawson, Snacktown, and High Steaks.
