Pat is exactly who we want choosing the drinks at our table, especially when it comes to Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.

If you don’t have a list of crushes whose feeds you trawl in bed each night, salivating with envy over the delicious goodies they’re drinking and eating, are you really living? No. Have we used our editorial power to get hot tips for ourselves directly from the source? Absolutely. Pat is the Creative Director at Melbourne Food & Wine Festival (MFWF) and comes to this role from a long career of writing about food, restaurants and drinks.

As we inch ever closer to the debut of Dan’s Diner at MFWF 2024, we want to know what drinks Pat is most looking forward to enjoying. And as an expert in all things delicious, Pat gives advice you can take seriously. Keep reading for the latest instalment of ‘What our crush is drinking’ – written by Pat Nourse.

Some of the drinks and dishes at Dan's Diner

Hey. I’m Pat. I’m no kind of wine professional, but I’ve spent a lot of time in close proximity to really good drinks through my work as a restaurant reviewer and travel journalist, and I love, love, love bars, cocktails and things made well by people who care about them. All the more reason I’m pumped for this year’s Melbourne Food & Wine Festival. The festival has “wine” in the name, but we’ve got awesome drinks events of all kinds, whether it’s a gin-fuelled wander around the Botanic Gardens, a taco and tequila fiesta on the Yarra, a Roaring Twenties cocktail party, a deep dive into cheese and whisky, a sake-and-beer fusion, a Caribbean rum tour, “froth and flesh”, a historical walking tour of the drinks that made Melbourne, or – wait for it – a dance and wine pairing.

But the jewel in the crown is Dan’s Diner. Not only is the Diner the best place to get a drink this March, it’s also one of the easiest ways to get your taste of the festival. You don’t need a booking – it’s open to walk-ins from 12 noon daily for lunch, dinner, drinks and everything in between from 15 to 24 March.

It’s a very Dan-rich environment, too – we’ve asked some of the heaviest-hitters of the food world who happen to be called Dan to help us with the food. So, you’ve got two three-hat chefs in the form of Dan Hunter from Brae and Dan Puskas from Sixpenny in Sydney on board, plus the stopless inspiration of Daniel Wilson from powerhouse Melbourne restaurant Yakimono. Boom!

And, of course, we’ve got drinks. Dan Docherty from Commis, one of my favourite new bars in the country, has written the cocktail list, and we’ve got some pretty extraordinary firepower taking care of the wine, beer and the rest of the list – our friends at Dan Murphy’s. There’s lots of good stuff to choose from, but here’s what I’m most looking forward to trying when I’m there. Take these five recs and put them to good use when you’re at the Diner, or give them a crack at home.

1. The Dan Murphizz

Martinis – quite reasonably – get all the headlines, but have you spent much time drinking Gin Fizzes? They’re perfectly refreshing – gin, lemon juice and sugar. Dan Docherty, wise soul that he is, has chosen the delicious Melbourne Gin Company’s fine dry gin for this one, adds a splash of apricot brandy from those geniuses at Marionette, and serves it long, tall and refreshing over ice with soda. I think it would be a very, very good time alongside Daniel Wilson’s fried chicken and buttermilk waffles with togarashi maple syrup. If you can’t make it down to sip on a Dan Murphizz at the diner itself, I happen to know that Dan’s Daily will be publishing the recipe after the festival wraps – so keep your eyes peeled.

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2. Chalmers Vermentino

You know, sometimes the really simple drink-pairing ideas are the ones that have really stuck for me. Beer and cider with cheese: winner. Red wine and roast chicken: hell yes. And vermentino with seafood. A kind sommelier laid this advice on my ears years ago, and I’ve tried it every which way, and she was absolutely right – this light white grape from Italy is versatile and extremely drinkable. Chalmers make one of the very best in Australia, and I’m very much looking forward to drinking it with Daniel Wilson’s mini hashbrowns with Yarra Valley salmon caviar, seaweed crème fraîche and finger lime, or, possibly better still, Dan Puskas’s crumbed fish burger with cheddar, lettuce, tartare and eggplant relish. Hello!

3. Dan’s Super-Extra Ultra-Deluxe Double Straw Honey Wattle White Light Vodka Shake

I was all for calling this one The Flaming Danborghini, but it’s not actually served on fire. Having said that, it’s very much worth several flame emojis. This is like a reverse bartender’s handshake, except instead of being all tough-guy “I’ll have a 50/50 Sazerac” or a Dirty Shirley Temple or whatever, you’re ordering a very more-is-more frothy boi that has Pidapipo gelato in it, and a cherry on top. As the name suggests, it’s a whole lotta cocktail. I am strongly in favour of ordering one to go with Daniel Wilson’s peach cobbler doughnut, or indeed the equally substantial Sixpenny pecan and carrot cake. The recipe for this will be coming to Dan’s Daily soon.

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4. Gurneys Organic Vintage Proper Dry Cider

There’s some fairly average cider out there, but when you find one that’s crisp and “proper dry” and made from cider apples, as with the work of the Gurney family, just north of Victoria’s Wilsons Promontory, it’s a revelation. These guys really know their apples. This cider drinks beautifully just as it is, but it’d also be god’s gift to Dan Hunter’s pork and venison meatloaf with bread and pickles. It’ll be hitting the Dan’s shelves soon enough, but in the meantime, definitely order one while you’re at the Diner.

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5. The Danhattan

I love Manhattans. They’re really good to batch up and keep in your freezer alongside some frozen cocktail glasses for emergency entertaining. Here, Dan has gone for a Melbourne twist on the classic, stirring down Starward Two-Fold Whisky with Maidenii Sweet Vermouth, macadamia liqueur and bitters. I like a Danhattan at either end of a meal, whether it’s kicking off with Dan Puskas’s fried mozzarella and spicy tomato, or closing on a strong finish with Dan Hunter’s banana split with spiced rum caramel.

6. William Downie Cathedral Pinot Noir

Bill Downie: the man, the legend, the beard. His wine path started with a few shifts in a suburban bottle-o and took him to the finest vineyards of Burgundy. I’ve seen him described as “the enfant terrible” of wine in Australia; I don’t know about that, but he certainly likes to go his own way, and is undoubtedly one of the biggest names in minimal-intervention winemaking. But never mind all that: the wines are delicious, and this pinot, made from mostly Mornington Peninsula fruit (the rest from King Valley), is going to absolutely rock with Daniel Wilson’s patty melt.