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Apollo Bay – the eternal beach getaway

Words by Richard Cornish
Images by Michael Peters, Richard Cornish, Andrew Englisch, Lauren Doolan & Jay Dillon

The waves crash endlessly on the arc of golden sand that wraps around this beautiful, bucolic working fishing village, farm hub, and holiday town. With a green backdrop of forest and pasture-cloaked hills rising from the sea, Apollo Bay is as dramatic as it is serene.

We’ve made it easy for you to plan an Apollo Bay adventure with our suggested itinerary below.

We wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

Hotel Canberra in Ballarat has once again opened its doors

Words by Richard Cornish
Images supplied

On the main road between Ballarat and Creswick is a grand old hotel dating back to the late 1800s. In 1927 the beautiful old girl was renamed after the nation’s new capital to celebrate the opening of the parliament.

Victorian on the outside but Art Deco on the inside, the pub has new owners and a new offer. The new team is headlined by one of Melbourne’s best-known radio producers and publicists Pete Dillon. A Ballarat local for some time in the 1980s, he is joined by his brother Paul and former Rockpool chef, the Philippines-born Jeris (Jigs) Liwanag.

The Hotel Canberra is opening in three stages. Bobby’s bar opened recently featuring a 100% Victorian beverage, with a commitment to artisan, craft, and hyper-local beer, wine, and spirits.

Next will be The Stables Café & Bar, a seven-day licensed café in the heritage-listed, hundred-year-old stables at the rear of the property. There are a series of individual nooks and crannies where guests can enjoy locally roasted coffee, sweets, and treats from around Ballarat and a contemporary menu offering pre-noon and post-noon menus, as well as some locally produced beers and wines.

And coming soon, Vesta x Jigs, the new dining room, will give former Rockpool chef Jigs Liwanag plenty of opportunity to flex his culinary muscle, drawing on his Filipino heritage and a decade sailing the world cooking on private ships. He’ll be preparing degustation menus celebrating the very best of the state.

The menu will be 100% Victorian produce, with much of it drawn from the local Ballarat region. “I will be challenged by our strict Victorian-only ethos as I am used to using what is available, but I am motivated to find the very best from the region and get really creative with the produce. I am excited to offer guests a glimpse into my heritage as well as the amazing dishes I fell in love with as I travelled the world”.

THE DETAILS

What: Hotel Canberra re-opens
Where: 812 Macarthur St, Ballarat Central
When: Bar open, Stables Café and Bar and Vesta x Jigs dining room coming soon
Why: Old pub with art deco interior with Vic food and beverage focus
More info: Canberra Hotel and The Stables Tea Room Ballarat

We wish to acknowledge the Wadawurrung people as traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

A unique Ballarat culinary experience comes to Fed Square

Words by Richard Cornish
Images Supplied

Over the past few years, Ballarat has quietly been working on its culinary culture. It wasn’t that long ago that this was a historic city with an equally historic food offering of steak houses and deep-fried Chinese.

Now its food scene is thriving with a raft of wine bars, hatted restaurants and excellent cafes. They work together with food producers in the Goldfields region to offer a broad, locally focused experience. The city itself is a series of remarkably intact mid-Victorian streetscapes with some exceptional cultural offerings such as the Art Gallery of Ballarat and the Foto Biennale. But if you’re too time-poor to make the 90-minute drive or train trip to the city of gold, head to Victoria by Farmer’s Daughter at Fed Square this spring for a taste of Ballarat.

Every season, restaurant chef and owner Alejandro Saravia turns the spotlight of his restaurant onto a particular region so expect some interesting collaborations. On October 29, Dianne Ray from The Shared Table in Buninyong will join in a $110 per person three-course seasonal menu. On Sunday 11 September, Neill Robb from Sally’s Paddock will host a lunch celebrating his vineyard’s 50th birthday producing only red wine. Foxy young Ballarat winebar Renard is taking over the rooftop terrace bar overlooking the Yarra on 6-8 October from 5 pm each evening.

Throughout spring, the menu at Victoria by Farmer’s Daughter will feature produce from around Ballarat and the goldfields while the drink menus will focus on local drops from Mitchell Harris Wines, Red Duck Beer, Aunty Jacks, Kilderkin Distillery and its Larrikin Gin, Eastern Peake and Learmonth Cider. Ballarat’s rich cultural heritage will also be on show with works by Wadawurrung fibre artist Tammy Gilson and kinetic video projection by Ballarat artist Josh Waddell.

THE DETAILS

What: Ballarat Comes to Fed Square at Victoria by Farmer’s Daughters
Where: Ground Floor, Yarra Building Fed Square
When: September-November
More Info: Victoria by Farmer’s Daughters

We wish to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people as traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

Is Sorrento Victoria’s new dining capital?

Words by Richard Cornish
Images Supplied

Sorrento’s colonial limestone buildings look out over a half moon of Norfolk Island pines onto white sands framing the azure blue waters of Port Phillip. A community of seafarers, surfers, retirees, and tradies who co-exist with weekend and summer influx of visitors, it may be remarkably beautiful, but it has never truly been a dining destination.

While Bistro Elba has punched above its weight for years, offering great wines and excellent meals based on local produce, Sorrento has not otherwise had an overabundance of great food offers.

Come 2022, and the situation has been completely overturned. Sorrento is now almost overburdened by experienced, talented chefs with venues filled with some big culinary names. Scott Pickett opened Audrey’s, his seafood-focused restaurant at the Continental Hotel. Ashley Hicks, who cooked with Tom Aikens in London, moved to Sorrento to open the refurbished Stringers Store. This week the Hotel Sorrento reopens its bar and dining room with a menu overseen by George Calombaris. Down by the water’s edge is modern fine-dining pioneer Paul Wilson who is back in the kitchen at Morgan’s Sorrento.

“I love to fish. I love the beach. I love living in Sorrento,” says Paul Wilson. He is on the pans cooking French-inspired dishes in this historic village near the end of the Mornington Peninsula. Paul led the Brit-pack chef scene in the early 2000s making a name for himself at the Park Hyatt restaurant Radii with a dish of truffled polenta and soft egg. His oyster nights at the Botanical Hotel in South Yarra were infamous, and he bought the dodgy Newmarket Hotel in St Kilda back to a place of culinary worthiness.

Now he’s at Morgan’s Sorrento, a smart casual bistro, flooded with light with an enviable bayside view. “Being down here means I am close to my favourite suppliers,” says Paul. He buys directly from Torello Farm, Hawke’s Farm, Harry from Flinders Mussels, and Mock’s Orchards. To prove a point, he brings out a barley-fed beef rib, braised in stock for six hours, finished in the oven and served with a single slow-cooked carrot. ‘The carrot is from Hawke’s Farm at Boneo,” he says proudly. “I treat it like a good piece of beef and slowly braise it in stock.” He follows this with a stunning tarte tartin made with the bio-dynamic apples from Mock’s at Main Ridge, nestling on a golden buttery puff pastry base.

I have always chosen to open places where I could enrich the community, and I felt there was an opportunity to make a contribution here in Sorrento, close to a great food bowl and wine region. And it is so bloody beautiful.

One of Paul Wilson’s kitchen acolytes is Ash Hicks. He worked with Paul at Circa at the Prince in St Kilda. Now he is Executive Chef for the Darling Group overseeing venues such as Higher Ground and Dundas and Fausset in Albert Park. He is presently in Sorrento supervising the opening of Stringers. Set in the colonial-era limestone building and formerly a store.

Stringers is now a café, pizzeria, and providore set in the clean, lean, cool interior by architect Chris Connell. “I am absolutely in love with the limestone walls,” says Ash. “The courtyard has been opened up, and it is this beautiful limestone encased garden,” he explains. We have put a pizza oven in, Napoli style. It rotates and can do a pizza to perfection in two minutes thirty seconds.” While the bake is fast, the dough takes 72 hours to prove, developing a mass of flavour to underpin Ash’s scant three toppings. His favourite is That’s Amore fresh mozzarella and Mr. Canubi mortadella over a layer of San Marzano tomatoes. “At present it’s breakfast and lunch,” he says. “The offer is simple but very, very good. We are making our own brass die extruded pasta every day. For breakfast come and try the chilli eggs,” he says. This is a dish of folded eggs topped with whipped goats curd and what he describes as a fiery caponata laced with caper brine. “But this is a space for everyone,” he adds. “Like Sorrento, it is beautiful and casual.”

Up the hill is Hotel Sorrento. This beautiful 150-year-old building, with its iron lacework and Italianate tower, re-opened its dining room last week under the careful watch of celebrity chef George Calombaris. The former MasterChef star has teamed up with the Pitt family, owners of the 1872 hotel, to work on the new menu and the opening of a Cantonese-inspired restaurant.

The chef moved to a home in the Peninsula hinterland recently and told the media that he has been welcomed by the Mornington Peninsula community and is focusing on the ‘simple things in life’. While Calombaris is not hands-on in the kitchen, his role as Culinary Director sees a brand-new menu that borrows heavily from the Mediterranean with dishes like porchetta, swordfish, salt cod croquettes, and pub favourites like parma, schnitzel, and cheeseburger. In October, the old downstairs ballroom will open as Shi Hui Shi. At the time of writing, George had not yet finished the Cantonese-style menu, but we are promised an umami-filled offering with loads of old-school favourites given a modern twist.

Another big-name Melbourne chef who has taken digs down the pointy end of the Peninsula is Scott Pickett. He has a house near the newly re-opened Continental Hotel, a venture in which he is heavily involved. “When we first started work on the ‘Conti’, we wanted to make sure there was somewhere in this beautiful old hotel for everyone,” he says referring to the four-story 1875 pub. It was built by George Coppin, who also ran the steamships that bought visitors down the bay from Melbourne in the 1800s. He connected the ferry to the hotel with a tramway. In the 1880s Sorrento was a thriving place for Melbourne’s well-to-do leisure seekers. The historic building recently underwent a multi-million dollar refurbishment.

This includes 106 five-star rooms, now managed by the Intercontinental Hotel. Scott worked with property developer The Trenerry Group and Melbourne pub guru Craig Shearer to take on the food and beverage offer that extends to 12 different outlets within the expansive hotel. “I wanted to have an exceptional seafood restaurant but also make sure I could still have a place to go with my mates after a day fishing,” he says.

Downstairs in the public bar you can order pub dishes such as perfect fish and chips and Thai curries while in the expansive Atrium, there are more sophisticated dishes straight from the wood-fired Josper grill in the Atrium. Upstairs is the luxurious Audrey’s, a light-filled dining room looking out over the bay where you can enjoy the luxury of a lobster and caviar tartlet, then a nibble of eel with malt glaze or cured kingfish ham on a rye crisp washed down with a glass of premier crus blanc de blanc Champagne. “Sorrento has always been a place for leisure and holidaymakers,” says Pickett. “With this re-development and others around Sorrento, this beautiful town is regaining the glamour it had in its heyday.”

We wish to acknowledge the Bunurong people as traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

The Continental launches stunning new accommodation options

Built by 1800s businessman and comic performer George Coppin, the four-story building was hewn from local rock and has been a local institution for locals and visitors for generations.

The latest addition to the multimillion dollar makeover of ‘The Continental’ is a Victorian era inspired seaside resort from architecture studio Woods Bagot.

The accommodation options include an array of luxuriously appointed rooms or one-and-two-bedroom suites, located either in the original 1875 limestone building or within the recently added wing. High-end penthouses will be made available by the end of 2022.

Guests will have access to the Mediterranean-style poolside deck, replete with cabanas, poolside chaises and a view across Port Phillip Bay. For those with a little more energy, there is a fully-fitted gym with 24-hour access.

Chef Scott Pickett and his team are looking after food and beverage across the different bars, restaurants, and room service. Spend the day at the beach, fishing or exploring Point Nepean then head to the public bar in your board shorts for a beer. Or you could dress up and head upstairs to Audrey.

This is a beautiful upmarket restaurant with velvet banquettes, bespoke hand-woven carpets and exquisite commissioned still-life floral photographs by a Japanese photographer. The room looks out over the palm trees, the Sorrento ferry jetty and across the azure blue waters of Port Phillip.

The set menu is seafood focused with little dishes of spanner crab in rich pastry tartlets, a crumpet topped with creamy whipped cod roe, oysters, yellowfin tuna, and local line-caught squid. The brand new rooms offer five-star luxury including top-of-the-range two-level penthouse suites offering a private rooftop terrace, private plunge pool, and separate lounge and dining area.

THE DETAILS

WHAT: InterContinental Sorrento Mornington Peninsula
WHEN: Open Now
WHERE: 23 Constitution Hill Road, Sorrento
MORE INFO: Accommodation bookings.

We wish to acknowledge the Bunurong people as traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

Victoria’s best pub stays

Words by Richard Cornish
Images Supplied

Once upon a time, a community couldn’t call itself a town unless it had a church, a school and a pub. During the Victorian era, the fashion was to build grand buildings with large dining rooms to feed travellers during the day and evening and then accommodate them in rooms at night. The countryside is dotted with these beautiful old boozers. Some are falling into ruin, some are now private homes while, thankfully, some still offer excellent meals and a comfortable bed for the night. Here are five of Victoria’s best old pubs with great food and good rooms.

The Alexandra Hotel

Victoria Pubs The Alexandra Hotel sits in the heart of the beautiful little town of Alexandra 70km north of Healesville, just west of Lake Eildon. This classic old pub was built in 1903 in the late Victorian style and was given a lot of love and a sympathetic makeover in recent years. For some, it’s the night’s stop after a hard day on the Great Victorian Rail Trail, but for an increasing number of food lovers, the pub’s a destination in itself.

Co-owner and head Chef is Patrick Browning, formerly with the Melbourne Wine Room under Karen Martini. He takes local produce and turns it into satisfying dishes such as house-smoked pumpkin served on his own sourdough with poached eggs, cashews, avocado and dukkah for the weekend brunch menu.

It’s worth staying the night and grabbing a table by the fire, taking a seat in the upholstered carved chairs and getting head down into some Loddon Estate free-range chicken with potato and pancetta terrine or an 800g chargrilled Sabre Pastoral grass-fed ribeye. With a beautiful wine list supporting many local wineries, and superb countryside nearby, it’s worth booking one of the well-appointed ensuite bedrooms with views out over the balcony and the bustling township below for a weekend in the country.

More details here.

Harvest Home Hotel, Avenel

Regional Pubs VictoriaWhen Ned Kelly was a boy he saved the life of another lad from drowning in Hughes Creek on the outskirts of his hometown called Avenel, just north of Seymour. It’s a beautiful historic little town with one of the state’s best butcher shops and a swathe of wineries nearby in Nagambie and Strathbogie Ranges. The train running between Southern Cross and Wodonga pulls in several times a day to the station, a short walk to the 1870 Harvest Home Hotel.

With its broad verandahs, wine cellar and semicircular brass topped bar this old boozer is now a boutique hotel and restaurant. The six rooms upstairs offer charming old-world accommodation with antique chairs and sideboards mixed with state-of-the-art bedding, ensuites, heating and cooling. The dining room captures the height of Victorian pomp with carved balloon-backed chairs, parlour plants, and open fireplaces.

Outside in the large sprawling garden are fun, funky bohemian chic dining spaces and towering trees. Chef Martin Golding makes the most of his kitchen garden in dishes like twice-baked Gruyere souffle with freshly picked garden salad and potato and leek soup. While the eye fillet is as great, it is the mashed potato with two-day reduced jus that makes it the reason to drive up the Hume Hwy. Together with dishes like confit duck and roast chicken with Israeli cous cous, and a focus on regional wines, The Harvest Home Hotel has become a popular destination for couples and friends to come for the weekend.

More information here.

Criterion Hotel, Sale

Victoria PubsThis part of Gippsland, between the 90 Mile Beach, the Macalister and Thomson Rivers and ranges beyond, is becoming very popular with fishers, hunters and bike riders. Art lovers are coming to town for the ever-changing exhibitions at Gippsland Art Gallery. A good hub is the Criterion Hotel on Macalister street, a historic pub making a name for its great grub.

Built-in the 1880s, The Criterion has been given a modern, rustic makeover that blends fencing wire lampshades with faux library wallpaper and clean white lines in the main dining room. The food is a good step up from pub grub steering into gastro-pub turf with starters such as a soft, sweet, sticky, peanuty eggplant bao or a plate of fried tiny baby squid with a good dollop of aioli and fresh sharp chimichurri. Mains might include a 350g free-range Gippsland porterhouse with jus, salad and fries or a fat, juicy chicken schnitzel topped with Napoli sauce and tangy Maffra cheddar.

Upstairs the rooms are spacious, modern, and well appointed, each with its own ensuite. Some look out onto the iron lacework of the balcony and beyond. While the location is in the heart of town it is a good point to kick off to explore this beautiful region.

Find out more here.

The Continental Hotel, Sorrento

Pubs Mornington PeninsulaSince 1875 the limestone tower of the Continental Hotel has stood sentinel over Sorrento’s sand dunes, looking out over the azure blue waters of Port Phillip. Built by 1800s businessman and comic performer George Coppin, the four-story building was hewn from local rock and has been a local institution for locals and visitors for generations.

After a recent multimillion makeover, the Intercontinental Hotel is managing the 108 luxurious rooms while chef Scott Pickett and his team are looking after food and beverage across the different bars, restaurants, and room service. Spend the day at the beach, fishing or exploring Point Nepean then head to the public bar in your board shorts for a beer. Or you could dress up and head upstairs to Audrey.

This is a beautiful upmarket restaurant with velvet banquettes, bespoke hand-woven carpets and exquisite commissioned still-life floral photographs by a Japanese photographer. The room looks out over the palm trees, the Sorrento ferry jetty and across the azure blue waters of Port Phillip. The set menu is seafood focused with little dishes of spanner crab in rich pastry tartlets, a crumpet topped with creamy whipped cod roe, oysters, yellowfin tuna, and local line-caught squid. The brand new rooms offer five-star luxury including top-of-the-range two-level penthouse suites offering a private rooftop terrace, private plunge pool, and separate lounge and dining area.

Take a look here.

Bunyip Hotel, Cavendish

Bunjip HotelOut west of the Grampians/Garwiwerd, where the river red gums grow old and gnarled is a little pub by the banks of the Wannon River on the corner of the Henty Highway. This is The Bunyip, a community-owned hotel built in the 1840s and remodelled in the 1930s.

This is sheep grazing country where the locals wear big hats, drive big utes, and have big appetites. Chef James ‘Jimmy’ Campbell knows this as he is a local, there is even a Campbells Road off the highway, and his serves are big.

He cut his teeth at Movida in the early days and ended up running their Sydney restaurant. He’s back home cooking up mutton, duck, and free-range chook using the skill and technique he learned over the years. A classic is the sticky, chewy Koroit French fries topped with a free-range egg and dusted with paprika. Move to hogget skewers with whipped cod roe or house-made black pudding with green tomato pickle. Charcuterie is tops, the shanks, schnitty, steak, and pork are some of the best cooking in the state.

The rooms out the back have been renovated and are comfortable, clean, modern, and very reasonable at $120 a night. The only drawback is the shared bathroom. On warm nights sit out under the stars with a bottle of local wine, such as a Crawford River Riesling, and watch the free light show under the Milky Way. The Bunyip is one of the last great old pubs in the nation and the value is exceptional.

Details here.

We wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

Making street food magic at The Laneway in Healesville

Words by Tehya Nicholas 
Images Supplied

Heather Alcock, who served homemade pies, cakes, salads and more in her bustling cafe in Healesville for twelve years has now turned her attention to something a little spicier.

Down the leafy stretch of the Maroondah Highway, when the straw-yellow fields fade into tree-lined suburbia, Alcock’s Mocha & Lime cafe stood as a faithful outpost to locals and travellers alike. She had nailed the formula of a great neighbourhood cafe: leafy location, lack of pretension, good coffee and seasonal, fresh brunches.

When Mocha & Lime was forced to close in June this year due to structural problems inside the building, a collective outcry went up from neighbourhood coffee lovers. Alcock, ever enterprising, found a new spot just up the road: an exposed-brick warehouse space with ample natural light, outdoor seating and an idyllic, sprawling garden, owned and co-occupied by her friends at Alchemy Distillery. She told us recently, “We just hit them up for this space. They’ve been asking me for ages [to do something], but I didn’t want to take on too many projects… But now, we thought we’d better jump on it.”

What’s new at this new venue surreptitiously titled The Laneway? Well, practically everything. Alcock has seized the location shift as an opportunity for a complete culinary and aesthetic redo. Where Mocha & Lime championed downtempo cafe classics in the kitchen, The Laneway slips into something a little spicier. Alcock and her team are careful to avoid strict labels early in the game, but gave us murmurs of “Mexican street food” and “South American inspired bites”. When the kitchen receives its final pieces of polished cookware and last lick of paint in the coming weeks, hungry customers can order salsa-laden nacho plates, cheesy quesadillas, and tostadas of every variety.  Alcock has been sure to uphold her passion for serving locally grown and prepared produce.

“We’ve brought in Yarra Valley Smokery pork and chicken so we will use this across a few dishes,” she explains. “Plus, we have vegan tostadas with chipotle beans.” Seems she hasn’t forgotten the plant lovers.

Among the light, bright meals, their speciality coffee is an aficionado’s delight, served with all the milky suspects you’d expect at an inner city cafe. Local beers, an array of alcoholic Mexican imports, cocktail classics, and gin and vodka-tasting paddles from neighbours Alchemy Distillery flow across the day if that’s your kind of thing.

Softly opening the third week of July for light bites and drinks, your first chance to drop by for a taste of the South American-inspired turn from Alcock is soon upon you. It may be unusual for a community favourite to curveball into a new culinary domain, but their loyal band of customers and budding newcomers are here for the swing.

THE DETAILS

WHAT: The Laneway
WHERE: 242 Maroondah Hwy, Healesville
WHEN: Open Monday, Thursday, Sunday 8am-5pm, Friday and Saturday 8am-8pm, Closed Tuesday and Wednesday
MORE INFO: The Laneway

We wish to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people as traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

A taste of Mexico in Woodend

Woodend has expanded its culinary repertoire with the opening of a Mexican restaurant and bar – and just in time for the winter.

Las Margaritas is the newest addition to the town’s food scene, boasting everything from nachos and tacos through to cocktails and tequila.

Situated on Woodend’s main drag, Las Margaritas opened at the beginning of June and is one of the only haunts in the Macedon ranges offering visitors and locals a genuine taste of South America.

And the best part, the menu is chock-a-block with options for the vegans, vegetarians and even the gluten-free folk out there.

“We are a casual and fun place that brings a bit of the city to the country,” owner operator Seema Been says. “We pride ourselves on our cocktails and meals, chimichangas and tacos.”

Having been in the hospo industry for 15 years, Seema has worked in a number of Melbourne businesses spanning from pubs to Latin restaurants and Spanish tapas eateries.

She says she bought the business during lockdown without even seeing it.

“I’ve been coming to the Macedon Ranges for years and had a soft spot for Woodend so when an opportunity arose, we grabbed it,” she says.

“Once we got the keys, we had our work cut out to open asap.”

The menu is indeed worth writing home about. Start your experience with a mouthwatering aperitivo – some corn on the cob with tajin, burnt butter and chipotle mayo, or potachos topped with melted cheese, salsa, guacamole and sour cream.

Or maybe savour your own tostada, double decker tacos, fried tortillas or tacos – dubbed as God’s gift to the world.

The selection doesn’t stop there. The menu also boasts signature paella, enchiladas, burritos, quesadillas, fajitas and salads – all perfectly accompanied with your favourite beverage and ready to turn your chilly winter’s eve into a helluva warm one.

“It’s not a job, it’s a passion for food and drinks,” Seema says. “Especially in the current environment; to shop for ingredients and present a menu that appeals to the taste buds and pockets.

“The journey has just begun for Las Margaritas with plenty more to come with the change of season.”

THE DETAILS:

WHAT: Las Margaritas
WHERE: 81 High St, Woodend
FIND OUT MORE: facebook.com/Lasmargaritaswoodend

We wish to acknowledge the Dja Dja Wurrung people as traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

This ski season’s best places to eat & drink

Words by Richard Cornish
Images Supplied

It’s Snowtime, and Richard Cornish explores this season’s places to eat and drink.

A tongue of cold air pushing up from Antarctica cloaked the nation’s south with freezing weather and one of the most generous seasonal foundations of snow we have seen in decades. The return to the slopes after a few winters locked down sees a handful of new places to eat and drink along with the thankful return of some old favourites.

KasaBar

Eating Out Falls CreekIf you’re heading to Falls Creek, consider then consider KasaBar. This is a little taste of the Japanese snow fields in the resort’s Village Bowl in Falls Creek. KasaBar has the look and feel of Japanese snow resort izakaya with walls papered in family-friendly manga and Japanese hip hop pumping from the Sonos. Order an ice-cold Sapporo fresh from the keg or try a local beer from Bright Brewery, Bridge Road Brewers or its hot or cold sake to wash down the hot, crunchy karage. Other hot Japanese treats include fries with Japanese spice togarashi or a nourishing bowl of thick, delicious ramen with pork belly, vegetables, and nori. Step outside, and it’s a short hop Eagle Chair, and soon you’re at the summit. Details here.

Harry Burns

Mt Buller Eating OutUp at Mt Buller, the Asian theme continues off Bourke Street with Harry Burns, a snug, warm dining room with padded banquettes, cowhide, and wooden antlers on the walls. The bar is lined with cool granite, and here you can order the house special: a punchy lemon cheesecake cocktail. The pan Asian menu lists delicious little fish dishes such as soft prawn rolls and Thai-style kingfish sashimi at night. Look out for spicy, grilled snapper fillet, classic poached Hainanese chicken with rice, and spicy ginger and spring onion sauce. Come for the big breakfast after a morning on the slopes or a hot roast pork roll or Vietnamese salad for lunch. Also, there is sister restaurant Bob Sugar at Falls Creek.

More here.

The Villager

Mt Buller RestaurantAlso in Buller is The Villager. This beautifully blonde,  rustic dining room, next to the Kooroora Hotel, has a brand new menu focusing on the French roots of co-owner Romaric Senelas. It focuses on crowd-pleasing French comfort food, perfect for cold climate dining. Start with French onion soup with a rich Gruyere crust, duck rillettes with suitable accoutrements, snails slathered in herb and garlic butter or a pork and pistachio terrine. For mains think cassoulet, steak frites, duck confit and coq au fin. The wine list has a compact collection of value local wines by the glass complemented with a larger extent of fine Australian and French bottles.

Find out more here.

Abom

Mt Buller RestaurantsA new menu at Buller stalwart Abom reflects the skills and passion of Executive Chef Ross O’Meara. The former SBS Gourmet Farmer and avid fan of wild game serves venison ragu casarecce pasta and forest fungus gnocchi in the dining room at the mountain icon. Downstairs is the speak-easy feel Moosehead Whiskey & Blues Bar downstairs for fireside late-night drinks and seriously good Melbourne musos.

Find out more here.

 

Also, check out these venues in Falls Creek.

Astra

Falls Creeks AccommodationThis little resort within a resort offers accommodation, day spa, and great modern Australian produce-driven food in this beautiful wood-line lodge-like dining room.

Take a look here.

Summit Ridge

Eating out Falls CreekThis popular lodge with a stone fireplace featured in the restaurant dining room. The menu offers bistro classics like beef tartare and ricotta gnocchi.

Learn more here.

Milch

Falls Creek CafeCasual café, bar, restaurant on Schuss St looking out onto the Australian Alps. Come for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Check it out here.

 

 

 

Then over in Buller, you have these options.

Black Cockatoo

Eating out Falls CreekModern, chic, architect design room with a Josper grill at the heart of the kitchen. Modern menu starring steak, wallaby, miso kingfish. Also, try the casual diner Bird Cage next door.

More here.

Kaptan’s Restaurant

Mt Buller RestaurantsCarved wooden German-style chairs and schnitzel on the menu are a nod to the founder’s, Hans Grimus, Tyrolean background. It is a popular and well-known venue and famous for its Salzburger Nockerl – a massive choc chip hazelnut souffle with hot chocolate sauce.

Get the details here.

The Whitt

The Whitt Mt BullerCasual, old-school dining room for the Victorian Ski Club, open to the public via bookings for lunch or dinner. Soup and Gruyere toastie for lunch. Gnocchi for dinner with affordable wines on the compact list.

Learn more here.

 

Then if you’re heading to Hotham, give these venues a whirl.

Miss Mary’s

Mt Hotham BarIn the heart of Hotham, with a great view across the alps, this is a haven of relative quiet, offering Asian classics, all paired up beautifully with amazing cocktails. Lunch through to dinner.

Take a look around here.

Joyce Brock Off Hut

Joyce Brock Off HutThis isolated cabin, built-in 1949 by the Australian Women’s Ski Club, is only accessible by ski or snowboard. Here you’ll find an extended deck housing a BBQ smoker so expect slow-cooked lamb in ciabatta, bbq chicken wings and baked potatoes. Worth the effort.

Find out more here.

Alphuette Wine Bar & Restaurant

Restaurants Dinner PlainAt nearby Dinner Plain, you will find the best wine list on the mountain and great easy eats like cheese croquettes, slow-cooked shoulder of lamb, pizza and the dessert classic of sticky date pudding.

Check it out here.

We wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

It’s a warm welcome back to the Woodside Beach Hotel

Words by Richard Cornish
Images Supplied

While country pubs are closing at a rate of knots, there is one old boozer on the South Gippsland Highway that is set for a re-birth.

The Woodside Beach Hotel between Sale and Yarram had been closed since 2016 when a group of Gippsland locals got together to form a syndicate to buy the pub last year. The group included fishermen, farmers and even a former AFL player. Soon the 1849 pub will reopen its doors.

The team have given the old girl some much-needed TLC. Gone are the old dunnies and replaced with more amendable modern amenities. The terracotta tiles have been lifted and replaced with a light, bright and rather rural-looking corrugated iron look roof. Inside and out the old pub has been given a lighter more family-friendly feel.

Woodside is a farming region that backs onto Ninety Mile Beach. It’s a grazing area producing some of the state’s best lamb and beef. Nearby is the commercial fishery of Corner Inlet where fresh whiting and flathead are caught. “All this is something we’re making the most of. Local and seasonal produce,” says syndicate ‘chairman’ Clint Hillas. He adds, “Technically, I’m not a Gippsland man, but I married a local woman so that gets me across the line,” he says with a laugh.

A sample menu reads like a who’s who of Gippsland producers with names like Maffra Cheese and Shaw’s Butchery leading the edibles and Lightfoot& Sons, Tom’s Cap Winery and Grand Ridge Brewery representing Gippsland wineries and brewers. The dishes are simple but good. Great steak, parma, fish and chips, ploughman’s platter. Nothing fancy, just simple grub done well.

The Woodside Beach Hotel is slated for re-opening in August with a 70-seat dining room, public bar and cosy lounge with wood fire and Chesterfield couches called the Cognac Room. There are two beer gardens and soon three luxury accommodation pods will be open for booking.

“This is about local people helping locals,” says Clint. “But everyone is welcome.”

THE DETAILS

WHAT: Woodside Beach Hotel
WHERE: 62 High St, Woodside
WHEN: Opening August
MORE INFO: Woodside Beach Hotel

We wish to acknowledge the Gunaikurnai people as traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.