Melbourne Good Food Month 2015

By Charlie Ranger

The time has come, my little friends, to talk of other things… Such as Good Food Month coming to Melbourne this November! (Oysters included)

There are no end of top restaurants and bars in Melbourne that offer up some of the best food you’ll find anywhere in the world. With such a fantastic array of food culture on offer it only makes sense to devote a whole month to it. That’s why we’ve got the Good Food Month running riot in our calendar, making it the thing to do in Melbourne this November.

Hidden City Secrets took the time recently to speak with someone at the heart of this year’s festival, Chief Restaurant critic at The Age and the Creative Director for Good Food Month, Gemima Cody.

It seems as though these days our television screens are filling up with more and more reality TV cooking shows all with similar dramatic formats. However, this isn’t necessarily such a negative in Cody’s eyes, “You can criticise reality TV shows for being sensational or over the top…but interest in food has never been greater…anything that gets a new demographic engaged with what they’re eating the better.”

It’s a similar aim that Cody brings to the festival in general, “I wanted to make Good Food Month the 30 days where we can see what happens when brilliant minds go off script,” referring to all the chefs looking to “do something a little different” and those “edging to have a little fun with festivals.”

Surely one area that we can expect this is at the Night Noodle Markets. “We’re obsessed with the culture of street food. We like the festival energy and choice that Asian street markets provide.” No wonder that the Night Noodle Markets in Melbourne have been a hit with locals for years now, a city in which the flavours of Asia thrive, inspiring local chefs and diners alike.

With a whole month dedicated to food, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out what to choose on the Melbourne program, luckily for us, Cody has a few inside tips: “Ramen Raves, an Ice cream social and a French eclade de moules. Sweet Fest – a two day sweet festival featuring Katherine Bath. Food journalists from the LA Times and Lucky Peach. An intimate cocktail party with Dan Hunter (Good Food Guide Chef of the Year) and drinks legend Matt Bax. Young Gun Chinese chef Victor Liong invading the Flower Drum. Four top chefs taking over a cinema to deliver food inspired by their mentors including Rene Redzepi and Joel Rubichon,” to name but a few.

With so many wonderful things to do in Melbourne this Good Food Month, Cody has some timely advice for anyone planning to attend: “Plan. Take advantage of the new hours for the Night Noodle Market, open from noon on weekends. Have your finger hovering over the button for those signature events. They’ll sell out quickly.” It’s pretty easy to believe when you’re boasting top restaurants, Night Noodle Markets and cool bars, we predict there’ll be some fierce competition getting into ticketed events.