Usually, we’re all for people getting out and having a rollicking good time in Melbourne. However, that’s proving to be difficult this year, so you’ll have to enjoy the best of the city at home. It’s a task made slightly easier by the fact that you can now get a box of all-Melbourne goodies delivered to your doorstep.
The Melbourne Box is the brainchild of Nick Searles, a freelance writer who (like many people) lost the majority of his work when the shutdowns hit the city. Instead of falling into a Netflix hole, Searles used the extra time he had to reach out to regular stallholders at local markets as he was “conscious of the fact many of these stallholders would have lost their main connection to the community.”
Each Melbourne Box contains five products from local makers. You’ll get something to eat, to drink, something for your home, your body and some art. The specific items are randomly selected, although you do get to choose between tea or coffee because some divides are too deep to cross.
Searles says the local suppliers he contacted were “super keen to be involved” and he is currently filling each Melbourne box with items like biscuits from A Lot of Good Stuff, candles from Wicked Candle, coffee from Nigel Coffee and hand sanitiser from Ned Whisky (très en vogue). The response from shoppers has been promising too, with the first 100 boxes selling out in four days earlier this month. While only the classic box is available at the moment, there are plans to launch a box for dogs soon too (filled with locally made dog products naturally).
Each box costs $50 and are hand-packed and delivered to your house. Find out more about them and buy your own on the Melbourne Box website.
This cookbook shows you how to recreate brunch dishes from Melbourne restaurants at home.