A VILLAGE FEAST for Gippsland

When it comes to villages, Gippsland has them in spades – perched on the shores of the lakes, peeping out among verdant hills or peppered along our sweeping coastline. So when the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival came looking for a location for the annual Village Feast, we knew they’d come to the right place.

The concept is simple: choose a gorgeous Gippsland village, invite Melbourne’s hottest chefs, connect them with Gippsland’s finest produce, add chic styling, live music... and voilà – you have yourself a Village Feast!

The first Village Feast launched back in 2019 and saw the likes of chef restaurateurs Matt Moran (Aria, Sydney), George Calombaris (The Press Club, Melbourne) and Alejandro Saravia (now at Farmer’s Daughters, Melbourne) converge upon the tiny dairy-farming village of Jindivick. There were Sailors Grave beers at the pop-up pub, an array of Gippsland wines in Blackhearts & Sparrows bottle shop, charcuterie from Hogget Kitchen perfectly complemented by cocktails from Loch Distillery, and so, so much more.

The less said about 2020 and 2021 the better... The Village Feast returned with gusto in 2022, this time taking over the picture-perfect hilltop village of Thorpdale, deep in the heart of spud country. The Traveller’s Rest Hotel had triumphantly reopened its doors after a heartbreaking fire, and the Thorpdale Bakery had already put the town on the map for a vanilla slice detour. The scene was set, and Melbourne Food & Wine Festival brought the party.

Thorpdale was transformed into a two-day culinary Mecca thanks a multi-course feast of Gippsland’s finest from Farmer's Daughters, traditional Latin American fare from Danielle Alvarez (an alum of Chez Panisse and The French Laundry in the US and Fred's in Sydney) and next level cheesy bacon and egg muffins from Melbourne sandwich royalty, Hector's Deli. There were workshops, tastings, dinners and winemakers’ breakfasts, with bangin’ tunes – let's just say, it was epic.

So where to next in 2023?

We can’t tell you just yet, but we can tell you that Gippsland has another Village Feast marinating away for Spring 2023, so keep your eyes on @visitgippsland for all the deets.

WRITTEN BY ALEJANDRO SARAVIA

PHOTOS BY JANA LANGHORST