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Chefs in Victoria take pride in their trendsetting preparations of fresh local produce. International flavors are found in both casual and upscale spots—and some of the best bargains can be found in local cafés. On Sunday be sure to join in the Victorian tradition of an all-day "brekky."
For the freshest rounds of Lebanese bread, go to the source of the best khobz (bread) in the city: A1 Bakery has been running the ovens here since 1992. Sit in for Lebanese pizzas and kibbe (deep-fried lamb mince in cracked wheat) or order a platter of dips and kofta and a falafel wrap to go. Don't forget the baklava.
A chalkboard on the exposed brick wall lists eight dry and six sweet sherries to start (or finish), and there are Spanish and Portuguese wines to accompany your selection of tapas and raciones (larger shared plates). Seated at a table or on a stool at the bar, begin with anchovy tapa, and go on to the authentic paella. Just leave room for dessert; the churros and chocolate are sinful. If you really can't decide, a dessert tasting plate for two absolves you of making a decision.
Up in the hinterland above the Great Ocean Road, in a village at a crossroads, sits one of Australia's most celebrated restaurants. Chef Dan Hunter's Brae serves a daily set menu renowned for its fine organic fare, much drawn from its own farm, which surrounds the dining room, the rest from ethical, sustainable suppliers of the highest quality. There are also six guest suites on the property, each accommodating two adults, from A$635 for two, including breakfast. Brae is 30 minutes from Lorne, 40 minutes from Geelong.
Taste great craft beer and eat amazing pizza at this busy brewer, one of eight craft breweries of the High Country Brewery Trail. Tucked away down a little lane off the main street, the brewery is housed in an 1850s coach house built during the gold rush era. Choose a picnic table beneath the umbrellas and listen to a folk band while you share a quality pizza or burger made with local produce. Team it up with one of their award-winning beers: their signature brew is the Pale Ale, but they also play with everything from elderflower to chestnuts---the taproom has a rotating list of 20 house brews. The bar also serves gins, whiskeys and wines from the region. Great for families, there's a little playground, the kids' meals are vast, and service is fast and friendly. You can also pick up free Town Bikes here to explore the town and the Rail Trail. The brewery also runs regular tasting tours (A$15).
First opened in 1974, this iconic Romanesque bakery has moved around Carlton on several occasions, and the masses have followed. Its biggest undertaking is in the heart of Lygon Street and still filled with perfect biscotti, mouthwatering cakes, and great service. In addition to an expanded lunch menu, a wood-fire oven—specially imported from Italy—makes pizzas, and you can finish it all off with a perfect espresso or a thick European-style hot chocolate with a cornetto con crema (custard-filled croissant). Enjoy the same tempting delights at the beautiful, birdcage-like café in Flinders Lane, and at little outposts in the Myer department store in Bourke Street and Melbourne Airport (T4).
This upscale bistro treads a very fine line between mannered elegance and decadence. A sleek marble bar and modishly ravaged walls contribute to the sense that you've stepped into a scene from La Dolce Vita. Happily, the restaurant is as serious about its food as its sense of style. Crisply roasted duck is now a local legend, and the pasta is always al dente. A seasonal lunch special (pasta with wine and coffee) for A$40 is a great value if you're nearby. For an informal drink before your meal, an adjoining bar has local wines and a light menu of the same high standards for those who failed to get a booking.
Down a bluestone alleyway, Coffin Sally is the good-time girl of Port Fairy, a fun, grown-up pizza bar doling up quality beers, wines, and cocktails alongside piping hot pizzas. The signature pizza, Buffalo Sally, features local Shaw River buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil. Gluten-free pizzas are available and bookings are essential on the weekends; if you have to wait, take a seat by the fire and try a local wine, served by the glass. If you didn't book and you can't get a table, the takeaway is worth the wait. And the name? Yes, this was once the workplace of Port Fairy's undertakers, in what was known as Coffin Alley.
Grab a window table at this very popular bay-side restaurant (housed in the former 1920s bathing pavilion), and enjoy wide-open views of St. Kilda beach and its passing parade of in-line skaters, skateboarders, dog walkers, and ice-cream lickers. Start with the day's oysters, move to the fish and meats cooked superbly over charcoal, and slow it down over wine and cheese at this long-standing St. Kilda icon. Owners Kevin and Gail Donovan are such natural hosts you may feel like bunking down on the plush cushions near the cozy fireplace.
You’ll find your place in one of the three levels at Farmer’s Daughters, in the fine-dining restaurant, in the deli, or up on the rooftop---its focus is the produce drawn from the rich farmlands of Gippsland, a region the size of Switzerland, to Melbourne’s east. Share small plates in the deli or opt for the chef’s selection (A$70), choose the Gippsland Getaway set menu in the restaurant (A$110), or take a cocktail made with locally sourced spirits up on the roof, for a true farm-to-plate experience. Its pantry serves coffee from 7:30 am on weekdays.
Taking its name from the Swedish word for coffee break, this sleek contemporary café decked out with blond wood and industrial light fittings serves excellent coffee. There's also a light meal menu with a healthy twist, including macadamia chia pudding for breakfast and a caprese salad for lunch—counterbalanced with BLAT sandwiches (bacon, lettuce, avocado, and tomato) and single-origin coffee.
Since 1928, dining at Florentino has meant experiencing the pinnacle of Melbourne hospitality. After taking a seat in the famous mural room, with its huge chandeliers, wooden panels, and Florentine murals, you can sample dishes like suckling pig, and spanner crab risotto. The three-course menu is A$150 while the five-course Gran Tour menu costs A$180. Downstairs, the Grill focuses on wood-fired dishes including pici (pasta) with wild boar ragu or grass-fed steaks, while in the Cellar Bar, you can start your day with Italian pastries and espresso on the outside tables from 8 am, or finish the night with a glass of wine and pasta of the day.
Superb Cantonese cuisine is the hallmark of one of Australia's truly great Chinese restaurants, which is still receiving awards after opening in 1975. The restrained elegance of the design, deftness of the service, and intelligence of the wine list puts most other restaurants to shame. Those in the know don't order from the menu at all but simply ask the waiter to bring the specials, which often changes between lunch and dinner with the arrival of produce fresh from suppliers.
Serving restaurant meals at breakfast and brunch, Higher Ground leads the pack for early morning dining. Grab a well-crafted pour-over and pastries, or linger over eggs paired with cauliflower, market fish, or the best ricotta hotcakes in town. The dinner service takes it up a notch with 12-hour lamb and a drinks menu that featuring Australian craft beers and wines. With its vast ceilings and raw brick walls, the decor is pure industrial chic. Avoid the busy peak periods.
The name means "alleyway" and in a sea of dumpling houses in Melbourne, down this little alleyway, you'll find the best of them all. The boiled pork dumplings are popular (A$14.20 for 12), though the panfried variations of pork, chicken, prawn, and chives hold up well, too. The staff is highly trained, and if the space on the ground floor is too snug, ask to go upstairs where there's room to breathe. Bookings are essential, but if you're feeling lucky, arrive at 11:30 am on the dot to try for a table—there will probably be a line of hopefuls already.
Tucking into a steaming bowl of pho (traditional noodle soup) at this Victoria Street restaurant is like channeling the backstreets of Hanoi and Saigon. Each order comes with a piled plate of Vietnamese mint, bean shoots, and lemon wedges, and there are bottles of chili paste and fish sauce on every mock-marble plastic table. Vegetarian pho is also available. This restaurant is crowded with Vietnamese and other pho lovers on weekends, so you often have to line up on the footpath, but turnover is fast so it's never long before you are seated and eating some of Melbourne's best—and cheapest—food. I Love Pho also has an outlet at the Melbourne Emporium food hall in the city center.
Isola Di Capri has been serving up generous plates of seafood since 1972. Start with a shared antipasto platter or lobster toast before moving on to the fish of the day or locally sourced rib-eye steak. The lamb shoulder with crispy pumpkin risotto is a stand-out dish for non-seafood lovers. For a lighter bite, their wood-fired pizzas come hot and fresh and the wine list includes plenty of local options. Save room for a gelati to eat as you wander down the pier afterwards, or time your visit to watch the setting sun from the dining room with a cocktail in hand.
Named for the Jaume Plensa sculpture of a girl's head, which is in full view of the best tables, this award-winning restaurant sits at the heart of a A$60-million-plus sculpture park, and its set menus celebrate the peninsula's bounty and its connections with local farmers. The decor is calm and elegant, with white-linen tablecloths and neutral, soothing tones that do not distract from the stunning setting framed by its walls of windows. The four- and eight-course degustation menus (A$150/A$195) are tight, creative, and special; the only stress is with the wait list for reservations. One of but a handful of Australian appointments to Relais & Châteaux. If you can't get a reservation at this 45-seat hot ticket, the vibrant Pt. Leo Dining Room (separated only by glass from Laura) is larger and more casual, but also excellent. Visit for lunch then explore the sculpture park on a postprandial stroll.
Locals and tourists alike can be found queueing outside Lune each morning for the city's most beloved pastries including what some say are the world's best croissants, which take three days to create. Not afraid to experiment, seasonal flavors may include pumpkin pie or Persian love cake. Inside a Brutalist concrete warehouse, croissants and cruffins fly out of the oven and into the hands of eager customers until there are none left. The pastries are best consumed with Lune's excellent coffee. A city outpost is located at 161 Collins Street.
Good food, local wines and notable art mix at this beautiful community hub, which has been a general store for a century. Pull up a chair at a farmhouse table and order the buttermilk hotcakes for brunch, or settle in for a long lunch---start with the salumi and move on to elegant mains---beneath the vines on the terrace. Alternatively, you could create a seriously good hamper for the ultimate beach picnic. The store has lovely gift ideas, and is also the home of Elgee Park and Baillieu wines, so the walls are stocked with an extensive range of wines from lesser-known labels, making it a good place to stock up on local wines, with highly knowledgeable staff on hand to talk you through your choices.
Overlooking a vineyard of rolling green hills, this restaurant has an à la carte menu, which changes regularly based on available local produce. The wine list borrows from the best of the estate's vintages, as well as classic wines from other regions. The open-air Piazza Café & Cellar Door (open 11–5 daily) dishes up casual dining. You can picnic on the grounds from hampers prepared by the restaurant, (these are hugely popular, so book well in advance). Take a moment to check out the herb garden and the nut and berry orchard, and admire the sculptures on permanent display. If the timing is right, you'll be able to see the entries in the Montalto Sculpture Prize and vote for your favorite. The expansive property also includes a natural wetlands and specially built boardwalks, from which visitors have a chance of spotting more than 90 bird species.
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