Alice Zaslavsky, Nagesh Seethiah and Chris Young Added to Melbourne Food & Wine Hall of Fame

Food & Drink Victoria, the organisation behind Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, announced the winners of its Legend and Trailblazer awards at a ceremony held at Chris Lucas’s CBD restaurant Maison Batard last night.

One Legend and one Trailblazer each were chosen across six different categories: Food Producer, Retailer, Advocate; Communicator, Educator; Drink Producer, Retailer, Advocate; Chef, Restaurateur, Hospitality Professional; Local Hero; Sustainability Champions.

Among the winners of the Legend award were Chris Young, who has worked front-of-house for over three decades and is currently at Trader House; and Tim White and Amanda Schulze, the duo behind Books for Cooks , the indie bookstore at the Queen Victoria Market that’s been the go-to for food anthologies and cookbooks since 1983.

This year’s Trailblazers include Nagesh Seethiah of Manze and Boire ; cookbook author and media personality Alice Zaslavsky ; Aaron Trotman of Non; and Sava Goto of Tofu Shoten.

The 2025 award winners join past recipients including Stephanie Alexander, Dan Murphy, Tony Tan and Natalie Paull in the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival Legends Hall of Fame.

Nominees in both categories are put forward by past Legend award recipients, with winners decided by an industry panel. This year’s panel comprised journalist Roslyn Grundy, Masterchef judge Sofia Levin , Wine Victoria CEO Dan Sims, food writer Richard Cornish and Food and Wine Victoria creative director Pat Nourse.

2025 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival Legends and Trailblazers award-winners

Food Producer/Retailer/Advocate*
Legend – Allen and Lizette Snaith of Warialda Belted Galloway Beef
Trailblazer – Sava Goto of Tofu Shoten

Communicator/Educator
Legend – Tim White and Amanda Schulze of Books for Cooks
Trailblazer – Alice Zaslavsky

Drink Producer/Retailer/Advocate
Legend – Michael Dhillon of Bindi
Trailblazer – Aaron Trotman of Non

Chef/Restaurateur/Hospitality Professional
Legend – Chris Young of Trader House
Trailblazers – Nagesh Seethiah of Manze and Boire

Local Hero
Legend – Gabrielle and Chris Moore of Sailors Grave
Trailblazers – Hamed Allahyari of Salamatea and Kababi

Sustainability Champions
Legends – Tammi and Stuart Jonas of Jonai Farms & Meatsmiths
Trailblazer – Gabriel Tucker, Max Moolman and Bridget Lansell of Wonki