Hosting Duties

Two weeks ago, we threw our first dinner party in Melbourne. Well, if you can call it a dinner party when there’s just one guest. But despite the small guest list, I was a bit apprehensive about hosting.

That’s not to say I’m afraid to host in general. I’ve organised plenty of get-togethers – Christmas parties, pumpkin carving parties, Cards Against Humanity parties (I like a good theme). Food was always an integral part of these gatherings, but the focus was on whipping up theme-appropriate finger foods (like pigs in a blanket that resemble mummies for Halloween or vegemite scrolls for Australia Day) rather than main course dishes. And since I pretty much plan my life around what I’m eating next, most of these parties had enough finger food to fill up on in lieu of a meal.

Dining with Dietary Restrictions in Melbourne

I recently learned an interesting fact: across the globe, the average person consumes 75 pounds of meat per year. Australians, however, consume a whopping 198.8 lbs per person per year, making them the highest consumers of meat worldwide.

Though Melbourne prides itself on being a world class food city, I would argue it still has some work to do when it comes to catering to vegetarians. Sure, there are some reputable restaurants that serve up vegetarian-only fare — Vegie Bar and Smith and Daughters, for instance — but it can be a struggle to find places that satisfy both my taste buds, as well as my meat-eating significant other’s. 

With this in mind, I made sure to have a good list of restaurants prepared when my mom and sister came to visit as we all have dietary restrictions — my sister is also vegetarian and my mom requires gluten free.

Below outlines some of the culinary experiences we had during their stay: