Vicinity Partners with Melbourne Food & Wine Festival to Introduce 'The Greatest of the Mall'

Vicinity and Melbourne Food and Wine Festival have partnered to serve up The Greatest of the Mall.

The Greatest of the Mall is a celebration of Melbourne mall culture and food-court favourites, given a 2024 twist by Raph Rashid, founder of Beatbox Burger, Taco Truck and All Day Donuts, a passionate faster-food professional and noted chronicler of urban and suburban culture.

 Over two weeks in July, Raph and his food-loving friends will be rolling up at Northland, Box Hill Central, Broadmeadows Central and The Glen, providing customers with memorable festival experiences and a whole lot of tasty free treats.

 In search of the Greatest of the Mall foods, Raph and four other connoisseurs have been combing the centres for inspiration, creating a custom snack for each mall based on what they saw and ate.

There's bao loaded with lemon chicken, a combination of a taco and a halal snack pack, popcorn doughnuts, and duck dim sims.

The best bit? It's all free!

Raph and friends will be appearing at each centre, starting on 4 July, giving away 500 snacks a day for a total of free 4,000 custom snacks to hungry customers, as well as hot and fresh exclusive merchandise at every stop.

The cream-caramel popcorn doughnut, featuring Matt Preston and Sofia Levin

Northland – Thursday 4 and Friday 5 July  

Catch Raph at Northland giving away 500 cream caramel popcorn doughnuts a day from 11am to 2pm on Thursday 4, accompanied by Matt Preston, and Friday 5 July, accompanied by Sofia Levin.

The lemon chicken bao, featuring Rosheen Kaul  

Box Hill Central – Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 July    

Chef and author Rosheen Kaul leads Raph through the culinary wonders of Box Hill Central, stopping for fried chicken, pickled greens and “fluffy central” Malaysian sponge cake.

Catch Raph at Box Hill Central giving away 500 lemon chicken bao per day from 11am to 2pm on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 July, and catch Rosheen both days from 12 noon to 1pm.

The halal snack taco, featuring FlexMami  

Broadmeadows Central – Thursday 11 and Friday 12 July   

Raph whiles away an afternoon at Broadmeadows Central with digital creator FlexMami, who teaches the anatomy of “a perfect bite” at El Jannah before deconstructing an HSP.

Catch Raph at Broadmeadows Central giving away 500 halal snacc tacos a day from 11am to 2pm on Thursday 11 and Friday 12 July, and catch Flex both days from noon to 1pm.

The duck dim sim, featuring Mitch Orr  

The Glen – Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 July

Raph runs into raconteur and chef extraordinaire Mitch Orr, fresh from a Haidilao manicure, for roast duck and fried dimmies at The Glen.

Catch Raph at The Glen giving away 500 duck dim sims a day from 11am to 2pm on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 July, and catch Mitch both days from noon to 1pm.

The Greatest of the Mall is a collaboration between Melbourne Food & Wine and Vicinity.

“Melbourne Food & Wine is committed to celebrating our food and drink culture right across the city and right across the spectrum of places and ways people get together to share a bite and have a good time,” said Anthea Loucas Bosha, the CEO of Food + Drink Victoria, the organisation behind Melbourne Food & Wine.

“Working with Vicinity and with Raph and his very talented group of friends to bring a fresh, playful take on mall classics is very much in line with the way MFW seeks to bring the good times to food lovers, wherever they are.”

About Raph Rashid

Raph Rashid was born to the snack life, growing up above a Malaysian restaurant in Melbourne. Street food and street culture have been parallel passion for him from an early age, whether it was graffiti, hawker stalls, skating or hip hop. Raph was one of Australia’s food-truck pioneers, and his Beatbox Burger and Taco Trucks remain welcome sights at music festivals and on the streets of Victoria today, while his bricks-and-mortar businesses Juanita Peaches and All Day Donuts have become celebrated Melbourne brands in their own rights. Raph is also a celebrated photographer and broadcaster, and was inducted into the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival Legends Hall of Fame as a trailblazer in 2013. beatboxkitchen.com tacotruck.com.au alldaydonuts.com juanitapeaches.com @raphrashid

About Melbourne Food & Wine

Melbourne Food & Wine encompasses public events, industry events and awards, consulting services and a year-round publishing platform offering the latest news in food and drink culture from Melbourne and across Victoria. Its signature event, the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, has been running for 32 years and is the largest and longest-running food festival in Australia. melbournefoodandwine.com.au  @melbfoodandwine