If there is a better cuisine to ward off the winter chill than Italian, we have yet to hear about it. Back for the third year, the Italian Wine and Food Festival is the place to find all the pizza, pasta, snacks, pastries and of course wine you need to fill your belly and keep you warm and happy.
This year's pop-up restaurants include 400 Gradi, Bottega, Saluministi, Sicily
by Mister Bianco and Massi, La Svolta Pizzeria e Trattoria and Figo Pizza. Make sure you stop by for all of your Italian favourites, and there will be cooking demonstrations with chefs and provedores on the main stage.
If you want to try to recreate Italian delights at home, make sure you stop by the marketplace, where you'll find cured meats, cheeses, bread, olive oils, pastries, truffles and heaps more.
Oh, and there's wine. There will be more than 200 Italian and Australian-Italian wines to taste, organised by region, along with wine masterclasses so you can learn more about what you are drinking. You can access the Wine Zone for an additional $30-$40 (depending on when you buy your tickets), or you can buy a Vino Grande Pass for $135, which includes Wine Zone entry and three wine masterclasses.
If you don't want to mix it with the hoi polloi, there is also a VIP pass, which gets you access to the Wine Zone, plus access to a special VIP lounge, which includes a sommelier.
Plan on bringing the bambini? Kids enter free, and there will be special kids' entertainment and a kids' play area.
Bellissimo!
