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Joost Bakker is one of the great forward thinkers of the food industry, and today he stopped by to talk about his Farm by Joost project that is planned for a building on Collins St. The urban environment is actually quite well suited to growing food, and with the growth of our suburbs encroaching on traditional farmlands it's time to consider alternatives. Oddly the project has been rejected by the Melbourne City Council, so it's up to state planning minister Matthew Guy to decide whether the project can proceed.

Speaking of rooftops (segue!), Vanessa Kwiatkowski and Mat Lumalasi are in their third year of running Melbourne City Rooftop Honey, which now looks after 75 hives around Melbourne and the 'burbs. We spoke about how critical bees are to agriculture as a whole, and a recent move by the EU to ban neonicotinoid insecticides that have proven to be harmful to bees. We think the Australian government should do the same, and also have a close look at whether glyphosate-based herbicides such as Roundup cause biological harm to insects.

It's Good Beer Week! The fabulous Dave and Cam from Mountain Goat joined us in-studio, along with Eric Ottaway from Brooklyn Brewery who's in town on a pretty enviable work trip. We spoke about how the burgeoning Australian craft beer industry is also reflected in America, and the differences in beer styles and ingredients encountered as you travel around the world.

The event known as the "Olympics of Coffee" is being held in Melbourne this year, and St Ali's Matt Perger and Sensory Lab's Lachlan Ward joined us in-studio to talk about the upcoming World Barista Championships. Both Matt and Lachlan are competing this year, meaning they have won their respective catagories in the national Australian competition. There are 60 countries competing, and the world championships are being held as part of the largest ever coffee expo in Australia, the Melbourne International Coffee Expo.

Next up we had an extended chat with Richard Ho, the long-time proprietor of Thy Thy 1 in Victoria St. Richard came to Australia on a boat as a refugee, and we spoke about his experiences on Victoria St over almost 30 years.

Lastly we spoke to Melanie Sheard who was the winner of last year's Thierry Marx Career Development Award. As a third-year apprentice whe entered the competition, and had two week's notice that she was off to Paris to cook! We spoke about some of the differences between food cultures in Melbourne and France, and also how easy it is to enter the competition this year. If you qualify as an entrant, it's well worth checking out.

It's Awesome Autumn in Melbourne, and we started today's show talking briefly about the issues being faced by Joost Bakker in his attempts to develop a rooftop CBD farm in Melbourne; hopefully they can be worked through, as it sounds like a really cool concept.

We were joined in the studio by Tanya McLaine, who is organising a rally called March Against Monsanto as part of a worldwide series of events planned for May 25. Monsanto is an interesting organisation, who amongst other products developed Agent Orange for the US government's use in Vietnam, leaving a legacy of ill-health and deformities that continue to this day. Regardless of your position regarding genetically modified foods (and we think there are positives and negatives), Monsanto's approach to commercialising agriculture is questionable; especially as there is little legal imperative for them to prove the safety of their products over a generational lifecycle.

Next up we spoke to Rebecca Scott, the co-founder and CEO of Streat. We spoke about her "epiphany in Hanoi" that led her to giving up a normal life and starting an organisation dedicated to dealing with homelessness in Australia. It seems a little perverse that a country as successful and abundant as Australia could still have over 100,000 people without a roof over their head, and Streat is dedicated to assisting both financially and by giving people skills to find work in hospitality. They've also just released a great new cookbook, with all profits going back into their organisation.

Finally we chatted to Melbourne food writer and man-about-town Michael Harden. It looks like Indian cuisine is no longer the daggy uncle at the restaurant party, with the team from Coda opening Tonka. We talked about what it means to contemporise Indian food, and the fact that the food at Tonka is less "full on" than you might expect for Indian cuisine. We also name-checked Horn Please in North Fitzroy, the re-opened Rosa's Kitchen in Punch Lane, Neighbourhood Wine on Nicholson St, Whisky and Alement on Russell St, Itali.co on Barkly St in St Kilda, and the new Brunetti's as places you might want to check out.

On an unseasonably warm Melbourne Autumn day, we started off today's show with an update from the Vic Market with John.

Next up the redoubtable Duncan Buchanan from Dromana Estate joined us on the phone. It's that nice time of year for winemakers; most of the grapes are in, the hard physical work is done, and now it's time to work on the various wines and see how they are developing. If you're a fan on riesling, start to look for the 2013 crop from the middle of this year.

Gavin Baker is a man who has an impressive CV for a chef - from cooking with Jean-Jacques Rachou at NYC's La Cote Basque, through to a sous-chef position at Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck, and now running the show at new Melbourne eatery Little Hunter. We chatted about his origins in the food biz, the various food traditions in his native United States, and the importance of consistency in the kitchen. 

It is always great when Rosemary Stanton appears on the show, and today she was talking about the recently released National Health and Medical Research Council's Australian Dietary Guidelines. Rosemary has been part of the team working on this project for many years, and we spoke about the changing perspectives on dietary advice, the fact the healthy food doesn't mean boring food, and sugary drinks that have absolutely no nutritional benefit at all. Avoid.

Next up we spoke to John at the Vic Market.

Finally Tina and Chris from Xocolatl Artisan Chocolates joined us in the studio to talk about their business. It's a funny game, as a chocolatier, as unlike many other food producers you're only working with one ingredient. The key is therefore creativity, and you have to be very creative to come up with some of the flavour matches that Xocolatl have created: Peach & goat's cheese chocolate? Not what you'd call an obvious conbination, but it's one that works!

On today's show we had an extended chat to Professor Barbara Santich from the University of Adelaide, who is in town soon to present a talk on a great Australia topic: the barbeque. We spoke about how this method of cooking has become part of our cultural identity, as well as what's good to cook.

Through the wonders of technology we then headed to the kitchen of Union Dining in Richmond, where chef Nicky Riemer ran us through how to make an interesting salad; no more limp lettuce and watery tomatoes!

Lastly we caught up with Damien Pike from the Prahran Market, to hear about what's looking good produce-wise as the Melbourne summer extends into early Autumn.

On today's show we were joined by Andrew Kent from Five Senses Coffee to discuss the Urban Coffee Farm and Brew Bar that's being setup in Queensbridge Square as part of this years Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. 

We were very lucky to have a chat to Matthew Evans, who you may have seen on SBS's Gourmet Farmer (lookout for a new season on-air this year). We spoke about Matthew's motivation to move to South Tasmania, the fact that the best produce grown in Australia doesn't always make it into a restaurant kitchen, and the paradox of urban growth crowding out the farmland that made our original settlements viable in the first place.

Lastly our good buddy Sebastian Reaburn had a chat about one of the world's most famous cocktails: the Bellini!

Triple R's studio 2 provided a very comfortable sanctuary from Melbourne's late summer hot-spell, and we spoke briefly about some of the cool events happening at the Sustainable Living Festival for those who are happy to brave the heat.

We were joined today by Lina and Tony from Rose Creek Estate, who have carved out a food oasis in suburban East Keilor. As Italian immigrants they purchased their six acre property 31 years ago, and now use it to grow "everything" including award winning olive oil and some obscure-yet-delicious wine varieties. They are hosting tours of the property next weekend as part of the Sustainable Living Festival.

Next up we spoke with Tony Eldred, owner of Eldred Hospitality. As a consultant to the industry, we spoke about the current economic state of the food business and what this may mean in the future. Melbourne has had a 400% increase in restaurants since 1990, often a result of property developers that include restaurants in apartment developments with no consideration of actual demand. Profit margins are continuously getting tighter; expect this to mean more "no-bookings" restaurants, fewer entree-main-dessert menu structures, and shrinking portions of protein on your plate.

Finally we chatted to Jason Pitt from the recently opened Feldman's pizza bar in Fitzroy. You can indeed do a good pizza at home... start with a good pizza dough, with a robust bakers flour and decent quality olive oil, prove it for 1-3 days, and don't put too much on top. Then you need HEAT. You can get by without a proper pizza oven, just use a chunk of marble or a kitchen tile to spread the heat on the pizza base in your regular oven, or even better use a hooded BBQ with the lid closed. Don't feel like making your own base? Use pita bread, it's much better than those pre-made bases you find in shops.

It's really bloody good to be back for 2013, and happy Tet to our Vietnamese listeners! (and Lunar New Year / Chines New Year to everyone else)

Speaking of Vietnam, we spoke with Meera Freeman who is organising another foody trip to Indochina Peninsula with Red Packet Tours later this year. We spoke about her history with Australia's Vietnamese community, the symbolism of the Tet celebrations in Vietnamese culture, and various foods made specifically for this time of year.

We had our first catchup with John at the Vic Market for this year, and Cam finally delivered on his decade-long promise to gift something made from his kitchen.

Finally we were joined by The Lui Bar's Sebastian Reaburn, who this year will be focussing on geographic cocktail history. What better location to start with than Melbourne, and if you're keen to learn more both Cam and Sebastian are hosting an event at this year's Food and Wine Festival called Cocktails of Marvelous Melbourne. If you've never had buttered toast in your cocktail, perhaps you need to get some Devilled Ale in your glass.

It's our last show for 2012! And who better to round out the year than the redoubtable Matt Preston, who's released a new cookbook called 100 Best Recipes. Given his day job involves thermomixers and blast chillers, the book is filled with simpler everyday recipes... cola-roast chicken, anyone? We also spoke about the changing dining culture in Sydney, our reluctance to eat certain ingredients (camel? insects?), and the fact in reality, chicken eggs are weird and freaky.

Next up we had our final market report with John.

Finally our good buddy Sebastian Reaburn joined us with what seemed like an endless array of Absinthe. You have to be very, very careful with Absinthe. Seriously. Approach with caution. We spoke about its origins as a tonic (!), the fact that many countries banned it in the early 20th century, and also how you need to be reeaaally careful. Also, don't forget that you need to be careful, it's the Speedball of liquor. Just be careful. OK?

Thanks to all of this year's guests, helper-outers (especially Digger and Triple R stalwart Tim Thorpe), and most of all YOU; the fine folk who listen each week and make the show worth the effort! See you all in 2013.