Melbourne is getting its own Good Food Month in November - The Age

Alex Atala, named in Time magazine's Top 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2013.

Call it fast food, hawker food, street food or just quick-and-easy food, a plate of noodles, a box of dumplings or a tangle of stir-fry is a pretty speedy route to most people's hearts. Add a balmy spring night, a couple of bars, some live entertainment and a few thousand of your closest friends, and you have the instant appeal of the Night Noodle Markets, launching in November in Alexandra Gardens - near the Myer Music Bowl - after a successful 14-year run in Sydney.

When numbers were tallied for last year's Noodle Markets in Sydney's Hyde Park, the results surprised almost everyone. On the final night, a fine Friday evening in October, more than 40,000 people came out to play. And to eat everything from Taiwanese soup dumplings to Vietnamese rice-paper rolls, Malaysian char kway teow and green-papaya salads, northern Thai-style. With stats such as those (almost 200,000 visitors in two weeks), it seemed a good time to bring the event to an equally street-food-mad Melbourne.

''I've been waiting for this to come here,'' says Melbourne-based food-truck operator and event caterer Rowan Bates, whose Let's Do Yum Cha stall has been a regular feature in Sydney's Hyde Park event. ''The Noodle Markets are all about food. And the customers who come are food-loving people. And there's just such an eclectic mix - families, professionals, young ones … All for one thing. Food.''

Night street-food markets will be held in Alexandra Gardens.

Along with restaurants such as Longrain and Mamak, Bates is already on board to sell his handmade Cantonese dumplings during the two-week Melbourne event (November 18-30), which will unite a few dozen restaurant stalls and upscale hawker-style vendors in an Asian-themed outdoor market. The only difference between Bates' Sydney and projected Melbourne menus is a greater selection of dim sims - all steamed but with a deep-fryer out the back just in case. ''Melbourne people really like their dimmies,'' he says. ''Sydney people are more into har gow [steamed prawn dumplings].''

The Night Noodle Markets are synonymous with Good Food Month presented by Citi. GFM began in Sydney in 1998 as a celebration of restaurants listed in the Good Food Guide. Its launch into Melbourne and regional Victoria will bring everything from star chefs to fun, new, restaurant-based events such as Supper Club (late-night menus at your favourite diner), Instant Expert (single-subject cooking classes) and Bar Hop, cocktail and bar-snack combos.

Also of huge interest will be the visit of two impressive international chefs - from the top 10 on the S.Pellegrino/Acqua Panna World's 50 Best Restaurants list. Big thinker and Australia fan Rene Redzepi from Noma in Copenhagen (ranked second in the world after three years at No.1) will be in town for the pre-publication launch of his second book, Rene Redzepi: A Work in Progress (Phaidon). Along with recipes, photographs and behind-the-scenes insights into the restaurant, it features Redzepi's personal journal.

Movida on Hosier Lane.

''Rene Redzepi is more than a wonderful chef,'' says multi-hatted Australian chef Neil Perry, who admires the Dane's focus on creating his own style with local ingredients, as well as his social and environmental conscience. ''Most importantly, he helps lead and inspire many other chefs to get the best out of themselves.''

Stand by too to meet Brazilian star Alex Atala (whose D.O.M. restaurant in Sao Paulo is sixth on the top-50 list). Named among Time magazine's Top 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2013, Atala will be presenting his first English-language book, Alex Atala: Discovering New Brazilian Ingredients (Phaidon). It delves into his quest to find little-used indigenous produce - and those who farm it - in a heightened sense of the chef's social responsibility, particularly with regard to the Amazon and other poor, remote regions of his homeland. Chapters on everything from game meats to tapioca, cassava and maize, as well as lesser-known ingredients such as coconut apple and fresh cashews, are accompanied by superb photography and Atala's distinctive recipes. But don't expect a masterclass-style tour. There are plans for an appearance that's a little more in keeping with this former rock'n'roller's style.

So, that's just a taste of The Age Good Food Month 2013. Appetites at the ready? We hope so.

Denmark's Rene Redzepi is coming to town. Photo: Alessandro Castiglioni

Joanna Savill is the festival director of Good Food Month.

A Good Food Month sampler

■ Instant expert - learn to roll couscous with Jason Jones from B'stilla.

■ Trailer Park - Melbourne's finest food trucks roll into one designated location for the night.

■ MoVida celebrates 10 years with a fiesta.

■ Hats Off dinner at Ezard, a World Dinner at Gingerboy.

■ Experience the NEW Press Club Test Kitchen with George and tour Press Club Projects, his development kitchen.

■ Hats Up and Down - Mark Best's Marque comes to Pei Modern. And Pei Modern heads to Sydney's Marque.

■ Lunch Above the Rooftops at Union Dining, tasting a different region of Victoria every Saturday in November.

■ Sicily Sundays at Mister Bianco. Come over for lunch at Joe's house.

■ Drink & Dine with Mark Brigg (2013 Young Chef of the Year) at Dig a Pony in Yarraville.

Regional

■ The Age Best New Regional Restaurant Gladioli and local chef Matt Dempsey bring a culinary experience to the Golden Plains Farmers' Market in Bannockburn.

■ Hats Off dinner at Provenance, Beechworth - Michael Ryan chucks out the usual menu and collaborates with Izakaya Den.

Sydney

■ Rene Redzepi will also speak in Sydney, at the Sydney Opera House, and be part of a showcase dinner with some of Australia's most influential chefs, including Peter Gilmore, Neil Perry and Mark Best (October 26-28).

■ And there will be Hats Off Dinners, Pop-ups & Parties, Let's Do Dessert, Good Dinner Under $30, Breakfast Club and more as Sydney and regional NSW restaurants strut their stuff in October. See goodfoodmonth.com

Going national

■ Australia's largest food festival is going national, with events in Sydney and regional NSW (October), Melbourne and regional Victoria (November), plus Canberra, Brisbane and regional Queensland (October). It's all part of the celebration of food and drinks that is the Fairfax Good Food network, linked to Epicure, Good Food, Food & Wine in The Canberra Times, brisbanetimes.com.au and goodfood.com.au.

■ The full The Age Good Food Month program will be published in The Age on Tuesday, October 1, and at goodfoodmonth.com