Michael Harden

Michael Harden worked in restaurants and bars in New York, Virginia, London, Tuscany and Melbourne for 15 years to support his writing, dining and travel habits. In a lucky turn of events, he now spends much of his time writing about eating, drinking and travelling. Based in Melbourne, he is the Victorian and Tasmanian editor for Gourmet Traveller and works as a freelance author, food and travel writer, restaurant critic and editor for publications such as Good Food and Broadsheet. He also holds the lofty title of Oceania Academy Chair for The World’s 50 Best Hotels, a role which, disappointingly, does not include robes. Michael has written 16 books, many of them food and drink-related, including a cultural history of the Melbourne hospitality scene called Melbourne: The Making of an Eating and Drinking Capital and Lygon Street a history of Melbourne’s original eat street. He is currently completing a novel that’s set, not all that surprisingly, in the restaurant industry.