Restaurants

Diners are spoiled for choice in Victoria’s Heartland. There are exceptional restaurants, many awarded highly coveted chefs’ hats, in every town. Loosen your belt, because extraordinary dining experiences await. Here’s just a sample of the sterling eateries on offer that will make your visit even more memorable – and make you want to come back for more.

Feeling fancy

More than three decades ago, one female chef began an epicurean revolution. At the now multi-award-winning Lake House Daylesford, Alla Wolf-Tasker began encouraging local farmers to grow the sort of produce she wanted to cook. She pioneered destination dining in Victoria and now people come from far and wide to eat at her restaurant and stay at her luxury hotel. Her work has encouraged other chefs and small-scale producers, and now Daylesford is now home to myriad fine-dining experiences echoing Wolf-Tasker’s local-is-best ethos.

One of them is Sault, a venue set among breathtakingly beautiful lavender and sunflower fields. It has a focus on sustainability, with an extensive kitchen garden bringing food miles down to just metres.

Another chef making full use of their own kitchen garden is Annie Smithers, whose Trentham restaurant, du Fermier, is a stand-out for generous, classic French farmhouse dishes that change weekly.

For an authentic experience of omotenashi – the Japanese concept of wholehearted hospitality – book a table at Daylesford’s Kadota. Owners Aaron Schembri and Risa Kadota have crafted a kaiseki menu, with each of its multiple courses bringing delicate Japanese flavours to local ingredients.

There are more crowd-pleasing Japanese flavours at Woodend’s Kuzu Izakaya, where chef Eriko Pannam creates Japanese pub food. It’s hard to go past the JFC (Japanese fried chicken) and tomorokoshi tempura (golden corn fritters with burnt soy butter).

On Kyneton’s Piper Street, Midnight Starling showcases its Gallic bent through seasonal dishes incorporating traditional sauces and techniques. Bring a friend to share the classic half duck a l’orange.

More fine flavours

Cosy and welcoming with dark timber floorboards and exposed brick is Daylesford’s neighbourhood-style Bistro Terroir. Chef-owner Matthew Carnell has created a classic French menu featuring perfectly cooked wagyu rump with shoestring fries. The perfect spot for a meal with a view is The Boathouse Restaurant on the banks of Lake Daylesford, where the exquisitely presented dishes capture the seasons.

In Hepburn Springs, a pre-dinner drink by the fire at The Argus Dining Room is the perfect beginning to a night out. Expect modern Australian dishes prepped with the region’s finest foraged and harvested produce.

On Piper Street in Kyneton, Prato is the go-to spot for pinsa (pizza) and Mediterranean-style share plates. Further along Piper Street, the bright, Singapore-inspired surroundings at Fook Shing blend harmoniously with the features of the historical pub in which it’s set. There are plenty of dishes, like chicken and prawn dumplings and a Vietnamese-style fragrant curry, that kids will love as much as adults.

Grazing in the vines

Pair a wine tasting with a delicious meal at one of our wineries, where dishes are designed to complement the wines being poured.

Just outside Romsey, the rustic yet refined restaurant at Mount Monument Winery showcases local producers in its four-course set menu. Or, for a winning dose of country charm, pop into UUMM Restaurant at Mount Macedon Winery for its woodfired pizzas and oh-so-cute highland cattle. Nearby, Mount Towrong Vineyard, with its backdrop of sweeping views, offers enoteca-style lunches, created to pair perfectly with its Italian varietals.

At Passing Clouds Winery in Musk, just outside Daylesford, dishes for a mouth-watering lunch are predominately prepared over a charcoal fire pit. Otherwise, opt for casual shared bites at the adjoining cellar door. Another winery restaurant worth visiting is Glenlyon’s Le Bouchon at Attwoods Wines, where the minimal intervention wines complement the French-inspired menu.