For the last 28 years, Melbourne Food & Wine Festival has been honouring key movers and shakers in Victoria’s hospitality scene by inducting them into the MFWF Legends Hall of Fame. And this year’s awardees have just been announced.

Seven new legends are joining the ranks, taking their places alongside Nino Pangrazio and Sisto Malaspina of Pellegrini’s; butcher Gary McBean; Paul and Jessica Ghaie, the siblings behind Blackhearts & Sparrows; Attica’s Ben Shewry; Anthony Lui of Flower Drum; food authority Stephanie Alexander; and more than 150 others.

“Each of these people have contributed significantly to their chosen fields and collectively represent the passion, innovation and creativity of the state’s hospitality industry, the late John Reid not least among them,” MFWF creative director Pat Nourse said in a statement.

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“The state of Victoria and the eaters and drinkers, producers and restaurateurs of Australia are the richer and the better for their work.”

Inducted under the local hero category, Reid was a co-founder of Trentham’s beloved and award-winning Redbeard Bakery, where he and his brother recommissioned a Scotch oven that’s over 100 years old (John recommissioned a number of Scotch ovens around Australia). He passed away in September 2021 after being diagnosed with brain cancer, but not without leaving a mark on the state’s baking industry and his local community.

Chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and TV presenter Karen Martini has also been honoured. She started her career under the influential Tansy Good (one of last year’s inductees) before leading the kitchens at Melbourne Wine Room, Mr Wolf and Icebergs Dining Room and Bar in Sydney. She’s also a presenter on Better Homes and Gardens and opened her new restaurant, Hero, earlier this year.

Sharon Flynn has been recognised for her award-winning small-batch business The Fermentary in Daylesford, which supplies the likes of The Lake House and Cumulus Inc. She spent two decades living in Japan, the US, Europe and Malaysia learning ancient fermentation techniques, which form the basis of her book Ferment for Good: Ancient Food for the Modern Gut.

Italian-born winemaker Otto Dal Zotto has been named a legend under the drink producer/retailer/advocate banner thanks to his alpine winery Dal Zotto Wines, which he opened with his wife Elena in 1987. He was the first to plant prosecco vines in the King Valley, elevating the sparkling variety in Australia. Dal Zotto Trattoria is also one of the state’s best winery restaurants.

Journalist, restaurant critic, podcast host (and longtime Broadsheet writer) Dani Valent is this year’s honoured communicator and educator. She’s been a contributor to the Age for more than 15 years and an ambassador for food-rescue organisation Fareshare for almost 10. Throughout the pandemic she also tirelessly advocated for and supported migrant hospitality workers excluded from government lifelines.

The trailblazer award is given to someone aged 40 or under who’s already forging new paths in the industry. This year it goes to Jung Eun Chae, who ran a tiny six-seat Korean restaurant – complete with homemade gochujang, soy sauce, vinegar, rice wine and kimchi – all in her one-bedroom apartment. She’s since moved to Cockatoo in the Dandenong Ranges, where she’ll reopen her eponymous restaurant, Chae, in a bigger space later this year.

And the brand-new sustainability champion award was introduced this year, with Joost Bakker its inaugural recipient. The Dutch-born innovator and eco-pioneer founded Melbourne’s first zero-waste restaurant, helped design the “world’s most sustainable shopping centre”, and has created a blueprint for the house of the future with his Fed Square pop-up Future Food System, encouraging Australians to rethink sustainability in their everyday lives.

Previous legends and other leading figures of the state’s food and wine scene sent in their nominations, with this year’s awardees chosen by a panel chaired by food editor and journalist Jill Dupleix, alongside Nourse, cookbook author and teacher Tony Tan, wine writer Jane Faulkner and the festival’s industry lead Daisy Slade.

melbournefoodandwine.com.au