Wake up and smell the kofta

When Frank Camorra was a child growing up in Melbourne in the 1970s, one major thing separated him from all his classmates: sandwiches. While he went to school with offerings made of Spanish ham, chorizo and fresh cheese drizzled with olive oil, his friends were munching on sugar sprinkles on buttered white bread. 'My schoolmates always made fun of my lunches,' he says.

Back then, Melbourne was a place where you'd have a very hard time finding good olive oil, Spanish ham or any type of cured olives. 'We had to learn to make our own,' says Camorra, now one of the city's top restaurateurs.

Instead, he says, you found mostly standard British pub fare - roast chicken, bangers and mash, and meat pies - familiar and lovely but unexciting, much like the city itself at the time. Indeed, throughout much of the 20th century, Melbourne was viewed as a provincial sibling to its more fabulous sister city, Sydney - a state of being that reputedly prompted visitor Bette Midler to quip: 'Melbourne is the kind of town that really makes you consider the question, 'Is there life after death?''

But the city has long since shaken off its drowsiness and undergone a major culinary, cultural and social renaissance. Immigrants from countries like Spain, Greece and Vietnam have brought with them a new vibrancy and food culture.

Camorra's family emigrated from Barcelona to Melbourne in 1970, when he was five, and at the time his clan and other Spanish newcomers had to pool their food knowledge. 'My parents couldn't cook - my dad was a plumber,' he says. 'So we found another Spaniard in Melbourne who knew how to make chorizo and ham and we all shared our information. When I was about seven, I learned to marinade olives. We had ham curing in our laundry.'

Camorra went on to become the owner of four MoVida restaurants, a MasterChef television star, the author of three food-centric books and a national celebrity chef.

Today, most visitors to Melbourne - maybe even Bette Midler - would be dazzled by the impressive dining scene. Camorra's own MoVida has been at the forefront of the city's culinary revolution with its tapas-style dining, and distinctive fare such as octopus chargrilled with paprika-spiced potatoes. 'Take all the great things about Melbourne dining, wrap them up in one package, and you have MoVida,' The Age Good Food Guide 2011 says.