From tuna-carving masterclasses and glassware workshops to express lunches, long lunches and a stack of food stalls, this year’s event is the largest ever.
James Street Food and Wine Trail returns this Sunday, July 26.
Now in its 13th year, the trail has evolved slightly in its post-pandemic era from a music-forward “get the people back out” vibe towards again being a more food-centred event. And that suits a precinct where the venues and the food they serve continue to get better year-on-year.
The 2026 program is the largest in the trail’s history, with 25 venues taking part across 35 market stalls, and a bunch of tours, masterclasses and lunches on top.
Not sure what to check out? Here are a few highlights.
Tour The Calile’s rooftop garden
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The Calile is by now celebrated in international hotel circles for being a Brisbane design icon, but one of its greatest virtues doesn’t often make the travel magazines.
Slotted in atop the hotel’s Doggett Street wing is a surprisingly expansive rooftop garden. Overseen by urban agriculture company Future Wild, the garden features eight planter boxes and four beehives, producing a variety of herbs, vegetables, flowers and honey used across the hotel’s restaurants, bars and rooms.
This Sunday the hotel is opening the garden to free tours with a Future Wild team member. The tours are 45 minutes with sessions at 10am, noon and 2pm. You can book a spot here.
Witness a day of masterclasses and demonstrations on the Chef Stage
Throughout the day the Chef Stage on Little James Street will present a bunch of prep and cooking demonstrations and masterclasses.
Bookended by two separate bluefin tuna carving sessions by fishmonger Mitsu Sakurai and Sushi Room head chef Shimpei Raikuni, the program also features Essa’s Phil Marchant cooking his wood-fired Moreton Bay bug with chilli XO butter; Anyday co-owner Ben Williamson hosting a plant-based cooking demonstration by grilling eggplant with macadamia, agrodolce and sweet potato leaf; and Hellenika head chef Bryan Kelly will illustrate how to perfectly chargrill South Australian octopus.
The sessions are free to attend, no registration required.
Mud Australia x Lawn Bowls glassware workshop
Tableware brand Mud Australia’s James Street showroom hosts Lawn Bowls founder and glassware artist Finn O’Sullivan for two practical workshop sessions designed to take participants through the intricate process of glass fusing, creating their own still life inspired by in-season produce and blooms.
Tickets are $120 a person and include materials, refreshments and a discount on Mud Australia’s collection during the event. Sessions are 9am-11am, and 12pm-2pm.
Express lunch at some Brisbane’s best restaurants
There’s a few to pick from here.
Hellenika is hosting a seven-dish express lunch that throws together a bunch of its star dishes along with a glass of wine for $90 a person. At Mosconi, chef Catherine Anders is serving a chicken and pork ragu pappardelle with aged parmigiano reggiano and a glass of 2019 Lunaria “Coste di Moro” montepulciano for $55. Then there’s an Essa express lunch that serves woodfired Moreton Bay bug with chilli XO butter and a glass of Blood Moon orange wine for $58 a person.
There’s also an absolute stack of more casual options from the stalls dotted around the precinct — Emme is serving a charcoal chicken kebab with pickles and labneh, Bianca a mortadella focaccia with ricotta, and so on — and Harveys Bar + Bistro is going in the other direction with an all-out French-inspired long degustation lunch with matched wines.
James St Kids Cake Haus
A hands-on workshop for little ones, this partnership between the Australian Women’s Weekly and Jocelyn’s Provisions will guide kids through a cupcake decorating session to create one of three iconic designs: the chip-lipped rubber ducky, the Dolly Varden and the swimming pool cupcake.
Sessions are dedicated to one design at a time, running every half hour from 10am to 3.30pm. Tickets are $20 and include a copy of The Australian Women’s Weekly Birthday Cake Book.
James Street Food and Wine Trail takes over James Street on Sunday, July 26.
Matt Shea is Food and Culture Editor at Brisbane Times. He is a former editor and editor-at-large at Broadsheet Brisbane, and has written for Escape, Qantas Magazine, the Guardian, Jetstar Magazine and SilverKris, among many others.
