Delicious 100 Victoria: Biggest risers in the 2022 top restaurant rankings

After a two-year hiatus, these are the restaurants that shot up the rankings of Victoria’s delicious.100 best restaurant’s list.

These Victorian restaurants aren’t strangers to the delicious.100 best restaurants list, and this year have shot up the rankings.

Cape Cape Schanck

Up 27

What does a third-generation French chef know about quandong? Enough to subtly marry it with crayfish, saffron and Oscietra caviar to create a simply stunning dish. It’s been a slow start for Cape, the dolled up diner at RACV’s Cape Schanck resort. But with new head chef Jordan Clavaron at the helm, the Mornington Peninsula calling-card is on its way. Arriving in lockdown allowed him to explore the native wonders of the ‘ninch, which is why you’ll see paperbark-wrapped Murray Cod, thrown over coals and served with a side of New Zealand clams as one of Cape’s eight or so courses. Or the Great Ocean Duck with a candy crisp skin drizzled in a tart blood-red Davidson Plum sauce, while bush berries (muntries) are cooked into a curd and topped with impossibly-perfect shards of strawberry gum meringue. If you opt for the matching wines, head sommelier Andrew Whalan pulls out all stops showcasing the region’s best winemakers. Come for the sweeping Gunnamatta beach views and beyond, but stay for local and indigenous produce presented with European flair, or a cheeky Claravon surprise.

Igni has risen 16 places in this year’s delicious.100. Picture Rebecca Michael.

Igni, Geelong

Up 16

Two menus lie on the table at Igni, but neither reveal any food. Pick a wine or cocktail and succumb to the surprises of Geelong’s fire-fuelled and arguably finest restaurant (after dietary requirements are ironed out, of course). Igni’s ‘surprise set-course menu’ doesn’t disappoint, starting with a narrative that begins in a different place for each visitor. It is ripe with amazing produce – and even better local stories. Take the tale of the green figs plucked from a century-old Drysdale tree owned by a 90-year-old man (they “grew up together”), which are served with cumquat marmalade. Sample six diverse snacks for two, including whipped cod roe on baked chicken skin (or baked radicchio for pescetarians), that have distinct flavours and balance, then follow through with crumpets, pipis and flora, Murray cod made two ways, ‘monk’s head’ semi-hard Swiss cheese and pine needle-infused yoghurt. Each will have you gleefully lost deep in a fable, the main characters a compelling dining plot. The secret menu is printed bespoke for soul-filled patrons at the end of their experience. Igni, which is Latin for fire, is many things: intimate (there are only 20 seats) with exceptional hospitality that’s informative, refined, unpretentious and top tier.

Bar Liberty climbed 11 spots in the rankings.

Bar Liberty, Fitzroy

Up 11

You won’t miss Bar Liberty in the heart of Fitzroy, just look for a neon-red lit, spray-painted sign out the front. The tiny bar celebrates wine in all its glorious, unpretentious forms and the snacks it’s mates with. The wine list was put together by sommelier and manager Josh Begbie: think ‘fresh and energising’ whites, ‘lighter brighter’ reds and even obscure ‘orange and macerated’ drops. Don’t worry, helpful staff will point you in the right direction without judgment. Young chef Zackary Furst (whose impressive resume includes Attica and Ides) builds his short food list around Begbie’s selections. Start with tanned, sea-salt sprinkled wholemeal sourdough, served with scissors for snipping (and sharing if you dare), swiped in cultured kefir and served with a weighty yet crisp Heathcote fiano. Don’t underestimate the posh-looking kangaroo tartare, cured in apple mustard and black lime, crowned with pickled turnip ribbons – it’s outrageously good. Bar Liberty gives Furst the freedom to flex his classical training with modern flavours seamlessly.

Vue de monde ranked at No.2 in the deliciou.100 best restaurants list

Vue de monde, Melbourne

Up 9

Things aren’t always as they seem at Vue de monde. Gumnuts tangled in an eucalyptus wreath turn out to be wattleseed choccies and that outback ‘roo-shi’ isn’t from Japan. And when things start as slam-the-table-good as the macadamia and smoked-eel tofu, you know you’re in serious danger of falling head over heels for Melbourne’s bucketlist diner in the clouds. Wunderchef Hugh Allen is making his mark on a restaurant almost as old as he is, taking your experience to lofty heights beyond Vue’s 55 floors with vision, sophisticated techniques and respect for ingredients – while having a lot of fun in the process. Maybe Vue’s tableside theatrics will have you weak at the knees, with wattleseed damper flung over coals before your eyes and the cheese trolley which rolls out post dinner. Or perhaps that 6,000-plus bottle list is your kryptonite, with $49K bottles of Romanée-Conti Burgundy, $28K bottles of Bordeaux or 1906 Seppelt tawny port. But it’s really everything at Vue de Monde, right down to the service, that’ll give you that top-of-the-world feeling.

Du Fermier has jumped eight places in this year’s list.

Du Fermier, Trentham

Up 8

Mopping your plate with bread isn’t just tolerated at Du Fermier – it’s encouraged. This philosophy makes Annie Smithers’ charming Trentham 25-seater feel less like a fine diner and more like a cosy country homestead, albeit one that books out months in advance. Smithers can be seen flitting between tables, explaining each ingredient’s provenance in the French provincial dishes she is famed for. Produce is plucked from her Lyonville farm and there’s no menu, but trust that every element is garden-fresh and likely a sustainable choice that didn’t journey far. Melt-in-your-mouth pork terrine comes flecked with pistachios and a prune heart, with bitter leaves, home-pickled cornichons and a squirt of mustard cutting through the fat. A buttery Alsatian onion tart with Meredith chevre showcases the kitchen’s technical ability, but it’s the main event that shines. You can smell the braised lamb shoulder before the generous share-plate arrives, ready to be shredded into decadent mouthfuls. Root veg is fork-tender, while Trentham’s famed spuds feature in a creamy dauphinoise studded with caramelised flecks. One final extravagance sees thick, Gallic-style hot cocoa poured over a fluffy ricotta chocolate cake, elevating vanilla ice-cream to a delicious ganache. It’s comfort food at its best, and well worth booking ahead for.

Carlton Wine Room, Carlton

Up 8

Escape the city hustle at the Carlton Wine Room, a charming street-corner wine bar infused with conversation and the sound of clinking glasses. The massive Italian-leaning wine list changes weekly, with vino available by the glass, half pour, and bottle. This may be a wine bar, but food is at the fore. Head chef Conor Heath dishes out an expansive offering that’s seasonally charged with plenty of specials at play. Snacks, small plates and mains are designed to be shared, with some plates also served at half-portions, allowing room for more food. You may begin with the mussels and a cucumber escabeche (using a classic European marinating technique) or the uber-popular crumbed duck and pork croquette fingers dotted with gentleman’s relish, before moving onto snow-white stracciatella lapping in a vibrant green chive oil, decorated in pickled enoki mushrooms. The oil is best daubed with an accompanying toasted potato focaccia square. End on a selection of two-bite fudgy truffles. Carlton Wine Room has something for every budget and occasion – and it’s not just all about the wine. Add in the part-of-the-family hospitality, and you have a special place for food and wine lovers alike.

Navi restaurant moved seven places closer to No. 1. Picture: George Salpigtidis

Navi, Yarraville

Up 7

Four years after Julian Hills opened his suburban fine diner, it’s still hard as ever to land a table or ringside seat at the pass. Why? Navi has one of the best-value degustations in town. Each of Hills’ five or eight refined courses are as mind-blowingly good, if not better, than the last, from that first sweet chew of charcoal macaron filled with Yarra Valley roe, to melt-in-your-mouth lamb prosciutto and heady slow-cooked rabbit wrapped in brassica leaves and teamed with bitey pickled pine mushrooms. His lockdown project ‘elements of duck’ is, for lack of a better term, a flavourgasm. Hills uses every part of the bird to create something profoundly delicious, be it cherry-lacquered duck hearts, a punchy XO sauce, parfait cigar or perfectly-rendered duck breast with flavoursome flesh and skin that’s cellophane fine with melty fat. It may be the best you’ll have. The wine list heroes the best on our shores and abroad. Hills’ attempt to alleviate month-long wait lists is slightly helped by Navi Lounge, the new wine bar next door which accepts walk-ins and limited bookings. Navi is not only great for the hip pocket but an anomaly in the worn and weathered hospo industry. Believe the hype.