Midnight Starling
Those in the know have long known that just an hour out of Melbourne the state’s best duck a l’orange is found.
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60 Piper St, Kyneton
(03) 5422 3884
Those in the know have long known that just an hour out of Melbourne the state’s best duck a l’orange is found.
At Kyneton’s Midnight Starling you’ll find Steve Rogers putting his experience gained in top Parisian kitchens to terrific use across a menu that comes in both a la carte and degustation form, both in the wood-panelled dining room and in the moody wine cellar below.
You might start with a spectacular terrine teaming pigeon and pork, or unapologetically textural escargot with a burnt butter sauce, or, indeed, a perfect piece of red mullet served with a bouillabaisse bisque of sunshiny depth.
Thankfully there’s plenty of crusty baguette, hot from the oven, to slather in good salty butter, for those sauces are wipe-the-plate good, while a flaky buttery pithivier of mushrooms on the creamiest celerariac mash is a winter wonder.
With a terrific wine list that teams Gallic classics with local heroes, Midnight Starling nails the French bistro brief with untold class, delivering a lesson in fantastically enjoyable food that never fails to bring a smile.
And that duck?
Perfectly treated blushing breast and fall-from-the-bone leg meat surrounded by a deeply seductive come-hither sauce, it’s always worth the drive.
Must eat dish: Duck a l’orange
Cuisine: French
Chef: Steve Rogers
Price: $$
Bookings: Yes
BYO: Buy one (from wine list), bring one of your own ($25 per bottle BYO)
Open: Dinner Wed-Sat
Instagram: @midnightstarling