MFWF - Festival Artisan Bakery & Bar

I can't believe we're already in our third month into 2015. But the arrival of March, also welcomes the start of the two-weeks-long Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.

Last weekend The Boyfriend and I were invited to the Festival Artisan Bakery & Bar, located at Queensbridge Square at Southbank.

Every morning until Sunday, 15th March, a team of international and local bakers kick start their day at 4 in the morning, to prepare a range of baked goodies for us to either take away or eat in with a cup of coffee, or if you like, a glass of wine.

Oh, imagine living at one of the apartments nearby, and waking up to the smell of freshly baked bread and coffee!

Renowned baking superstars Justin Gellatly (Bread Ahead, London) and Éric Kayser (Maison Kayser, Paris) will also make an appearance at the event - you can check out the event calendar here.

What better way to kick start your weekend, if not with a glass of sparkling, hey? ;)

Thank you, Q Strategies for inviting The Boyfriend and I to dine at the Bloggers Brunch as guests, courtesy of Melbourne Food & Wine and Peter Rowland Catering.

We managed to sample a range of items from the Bakery menu, starting firstly with the Irrewarra Granola, Victorian Yoghurt & Homemade Fresh Fruit Compote

We then moved on to carb out on the boards that comes in three selections; the Ploughman's, Mediterrean and Vegetarian.

Sitting atop wooden boards, are bread from either Irrewarra Sourdough or Woodfrog Bakery, accompanied by a selection of Myrtleford cultured butter, Milawa cheese, Mount Zero olives, as well as pickles and condiments by Peter Rowland.

The Mediterranean Board was my favourite amongst the three. Oh that sausage! Went perfectly well with a generous dollop of Maggie Beer's tomato and sultana chutney.

Ham Tartine with melted cheese, pickled and heirloom tomato. Yum! I wouldn't mind some right now.

Beef Tartine with corn relish and pickled gherkins; oh, this was one of my favourites! If I wasn't already loaded with so much carb from the boards, I could have eaten more of these. So delish!

If you're not a big fan of ham or meat, don't worry! The Mushroom Tartine has got you covered. ;)

Panzanella Salad for those needing a bit of greens amidst all the delicious, carby baked goodies. ;)

Moving on finally to "dessert"... I have to admit, I was looking forward to these babies all morning and they certainly did not disappoint.

We wrapped up our brunch with these warm, freshly baked Tivoli Rd Bakery Doughnuts. Warm, fluffy dough oozing with salted caramel or lemon curd filling. Yum!

We all rolled home, with big, fat, happy bellies. I even swaddled home a loaf of this delicious Irrewarra fruit and nut sourdough bread, and enjoyed slices after slices of them toasted and generously spread with Myrtleford cultured butter.

The pop-up bakery will only be around until next Sunday, 15th March. If you love bread as much as I do, you might want to get in this week to enjoy the baked goodies before they pack up.

Find out more about the Festival Artisan Bakery & Bar here and check out Iron Chef Shellie's amazing photos of the event.

Woot woot, long weekend coming up! Not long now, just two more days to go. Have a great one, y'all! :)