The fact that Melbourne, the capital of the Australian state of Victoria, regularly appears near the top of lists ranking the world’s most livable cities says a lot about its efficiency, cleanliness and safety. What that recognition doesn’t immediately reveal is how Melbourne is now arguably the most exciting city for food Down Under — something the annual Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (melbournefoodandwine.com.au), running March 1 to 17 this year, should help highlight. But even more noteworthy is the city’s distinctive creative energy, manifested everywhere, from flourishing street art and a cool bar scene to homegrown boutiques and buzzing back-street cafes. When even cosmopolitan Sydney talks of “Melbournising,” it’s clear that something special is happening in Oz’s second city.

FRIDAY

4 p.m.

1. Street Art, Bridge Beer

Melbourne’s most appealing quirks tend to be tucked just out of view. One example is the colorful street art that decorates many of the narrow back alleys and service roads known as laneways. The finest samples of this sophisticated graffiti can be found on Hosier Lane and Rutledge Lane, where nearly everything — walls, doors, garbage bins — is emblazoned with impressive murals and tags. After touring these de facto art galleries, head to the pedestrian bridge near the Flinders Street Station to discover an unlikely watering hole. Literally under the bridge, in the middle of the caramel-hued Yarra River, is the two-year-old floating bar Ponyfish Island, where instead of fat trolls you’ll find cold bottles of locally brewed Fat Yak pale ale (9 Australian dollars, about the same in U.S. dollars).

7 p.m.

2. Golden Plates

Take a tram to the laid-back bayside suburb of St. Kilda for dinner at Golden Fields (2/157 Fitzroy Street; goldenfields.com.au), a restaurant that opened in 2011 with minimalist-chic design and a kitchen headed by the renowned local chef Andrew McConnell. Prime your taste buds with an aperitif at the long white marble bar; the AYA! is a delightful cocktail made with West Winds gin, camomile liqueur and Rihaku Junmai sake (18 Australian dollars). Then move on to delicious small plates like crisp-skin, twice-cooked duck with steamed buns and plum sauce (24 dollars), and the restaurant’s take on a New England lobster roll, here made with poached crayfish, watercress and Kewpie mayo (15 dollars).

11 p.m.

3. Drinks Upstairs

Often, the route to discreet drinking dens involves descending stairs to basement bars or cavelike speakeasies. But two of the finest bars in town flip that concept upside down. The Everleigh (1/150-156 Gertrude Street; theeverleigh.com) is a classy, second-floor cocktail bar with vintage chandeliers and candles illuminating the leather booths and polished wood-paneled bar. Take a seat and order an expertly mixed Prohibition-era drink like the Buster Brown (bourbon, orange bitters, lemon and sugar; 19 Australian dollars). For a livelier scene, head to Tattersalls Lane and follow the music up two flights of stairs papered with esoteric propaganda posters to the new loftlike laneway bar Ferdydurke (1 and 2/239 Lonsdale Street), which opened last March. Try the smooth Steam Ale from the local Mountain Goat microbrewery, and join the cool crowd grooving to the D.J.’s tunes.