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Melbourne Food & Wine Festival 2009

If tasting the world without leaving our shores is what you’re into, then we’ve got just the thing for you. The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is the premier international food event in the country, and we’re delighted to be involved in an initiative which brings some of the biggest names and most interesting food talent from around the globe to Melbourne in March. If you’re keen to check out the international faces of the festival, the key things to circle on the calendar are the Theatre of Ideas, the Chefs Masterclass, the Global Wine Experience and the Chefs Dinners. They’re the forums where you can see, hear and taste what the cream of the world’s cooks and winemakers are up to as they speak and cook with many of our own brightest stars and, of course, the Gourmet Traveller team. Here’s our form guide to help you pick some of the boldest names and the surprise hits:

THOMAS KELLER
The French Laundry, Yountville; Per Se, New York
In a nutshell The quiet American.
The story The unflinchingly meticulous big mover and shaker in American restaurants, and one of the top-ranked chefs in the world. He also likes doughnuts.
The dish Anything cooked sous vide; anything in inverted commas: ‘coffee and doughnuts’.
Fame factor In addition to holding simultaneous three Michelin-star rankings at both Per Se and The French Laundry, Keller also designed the menu for Pixar’s Ratatouille and voices a cameo in the film.

HESTON BLUMENTHAL
The Fat Duck, Bray
In a nutshell The bacon-and-egg ice-cream guy.
The story Blumenthal popped onto the top of the UK dining scene in the late 90s, eclipsing the reputation of the Franglais establishment with the science-driven food now known as molecular gastronomy.
The dish Liquid nitrogen-frozen green tea and lime mousse.
Fame factor Major – three stars, plus the number-two slot after El Bulli on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

SHANE OSBORN
Pied à Terre, London
In a nutshell Go Aussie.
The story Perth boy Osborn moved to Europe in 1991, worked under chefs such as Philip Howard and Gordon Ramsay, and was sous chef at Charlotte Street’s Pied à Terre, stepping into the big job when Tom Aikens left. Osborn gained his first star in 2001 and scored his second in 2003 with confident and precise cooking in the modern European mode.
The dish Bittersweet chocolate tart, macadamia nut mousse and stout ice-cream.
Fame factor The first Australian to score two Michelin stars, and a player in Soho’s dining scene.

INAKI AIZPITARTE
Le Châteaubriand, Paris
In a nutshell Señor Bistronomy.
The story Inaki Aizpitarte, according to lady restaurant fans around the world, is a lot easier to look at than to say. The young Basque chef and his crew were given the ‘Breakthrough Restaurant’ award at the World’s 50 Best Restaurants in London in April for the success of Le Châteaubriand, the Paris bistro that has inspired the term ‘bistronomy’, serving progressive, refined food in a traditional setting.
The dish Poached foie gras with poppy seeds and red cabbage gazpacho.
Fame factor More a matter of putting the name to the face at this stage, but this guy’s a kitchen rock star.

SAT BAINS
Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms, Nottingham
In a nutshell The new sheriff of Nottingham.
The story Singh ‘Sat’ Bains grew up in a Punjabi family in Derbyshire in the UK and went to cooking school mostly because he thought it would be a good place to meet girls. He caught the kitchen bug, however, and has gone on to acclaim, winning the first Michelin star for the city of Nottingham with Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms, which he has run with his wife since 2002. Bains’ family may be Sikhs, but his food is French, not Indian, and he is known for his pressed rabbit belly with langoustines rather than keema curry.
The dish Braised peas with a 62C duck egg, jamón Ibérico and minted pea sorbet.
Fame factor Winner of the 2008 Observer Food Monthly Best Restaurant award, and a UK TV favourite, he’s destined for big things.

PHILIP HOWARD
The Square, London
In a nutshell The quiet achiever.
The story Howard studied microbiology at university, and came up in the culinary boiler-room that was London’s Harvey’s under Marco Pierre White, yet he’s known not for molecular gastronomy nor shows of pique in the restaurant or kitchen. A chef’s chef, Howard has made The Square a London institution. Sydney chef Matthew Kemp said Howard changed the way he thought about the nuts and bolts of food, a sentiment shared by Brett Graham, the Australian chef who heads the kitchen at The Ledbury, the Notting Hill sister restaurant to The Square.
The dish Fillet of halibut with a purée of peas, smoked lardo di Colonnata, onion rings and red wine.
Fame factor A two-star, under-the-radar legend.

CARLO CRACCO
Ristorante Cracco, Milan
In a nutshell Weird food science, Italian-style.
The story Carlo Cracco apprenticed under Gualtiero Marchesi, one of the biggest names in Italian restaurants, before being drawn to the work of French progressives such as Alain Ducasse. Since opening Cracco-Peck in Milan in 2000, which has morphed into Ristorante Cracco, he has gained fame for opening up Italian classics with new ingredients and techniques in dishes such as his risotto of Sichuan pepper, ginger and anchovies.
The dish Buffalo mozzarella-crusted oysters.
Fame factor With Ristorante Cracco consistently voted one of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, he’s one to watch.

RENE REDZEPI
Noma, Copenhagen
In a nutshell The great Dane.
The story With five foragers supplying the restaurant, René Redzepi, the champion of New Nordic cooking, revels in native Scandinavian ingredients, whether they’re seaweeds, wild sorrel or indeed reindeer.
The dish King crab and leek, dipped in ash, served with mussel juice.
Fame factor Redzepi’s name might not ring out this side of the equator, but his commitment to elevating Scandinavian food beyond a punchline has drawn attention from food-lovers across Europe.

Catch these chefs, plus Germany’s Dieter Müller, Italy’s Luisa Valazza, France’s Jean-Paul Jeunet, New Zealander Michael Meredith, Spain’s Ramon Morató, our own Maggie Beer, Ray Capaldi and Shannon Bennett, and more at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival’s Langham Melbourne Masterclass – spanning Theatre of Ideas, Chefs Masterclass, the Global Wine Experience and Chefs Dinners – Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 March, 2009. More than 200 festival events will take place 7-23 March, 2009. To book tickets, visit melbournefoodandwine.com.au.