Dan Stock’s top picks for where to eat and drink in Victoria this summer

Whether it’s Spanish by the sea at Lorne or cocktails with class in Mornington, a brilliant Euro bistro in Ballarat or pizza in the vines in the Yarra Valley, here are Dan Stock’s top picks of where to eat and drink around Victoria this summer.

Whether it’s Spanish by the sea at Lorne or cocktails with class in Mornington, a brilliant Euro bistro in Ballarat or pizza in the vines in the Yarra Valley, here are Dan Stock’s top picks of where to eat and drink around Victoria this summer.

MORNINGTON PENINSULA

CAPE

It’s one of the Peninsula’s punch-above-weight meal deals found in swanky multimillion-dollar surrounds. At Cape, the fine dining restaurant at the new RACV resort at Cape Schanck, two courses are $55, while three will set you back $75 – unbeatable value when you consider the menu from young gun chef Josh Pelham.

Josh Pelham is serving up three-courses of unbeatable value at the high-end Cape at Cape Schanck RACV resort

He’s putting high-end experience gained both here (Scott Pickett’s ESP) and abroad (London’s The Square) to work across a new summer menu that includes torched tuna with miso caramel, assiette of Crestwick lamb with summer squash, and steamed wild hapuka with bonito dashi and Japanese mushrooms.

Brilliant rosemary-salted fat chips are a must next to respectfully treated namechecked steaks from the grill, which the local-leaning, peninsula championing wine list matches with class.

Trent Jones Drive, Cape Schanck. racv.com.au

MORGAN’S BEACH SHACK

The first step towards transforming Sorrento’s Esplanade into a year-round hotspot has begun.

Morgan’s Beach Shack has recently reopened as a bright and breezy white-and-blue “Hamptons-style” beach bistro. Being beachside, seafood features prominently on the Morgan’s menu – think lobster rolls, mussel pots, local calamari – along with the expected crowd-pleasing burgers and good-looking steaks. An expanded “house and wine bar” – where top local drops will be served alongside grazing platters of cheese – takes care of after dark.

1/3 The Esplanade, Sorrento. beachshacksorrento.com.au

Life’s a beach this summer in Sorrento thanks to Morgan's Beach Shack

MONTALTO

A winemaker’s art is usually confined to the glass, but at Montalto you’ll find it’s not only from the vines, but among it, too. With past winners of the Montalto Sculpture Prize dotted throughout the grounds, walking off lunch through the vines here is a delight of discovery. A refresh of the dining room as given renewed vigour to the restaurant — it’s out with the tablecloths and set-course menu and in with a fire pit in the kitchen helmed by Gerard Phelan and a menu of sharing and snacking. Little bites set the scene: terrifically smoky eel served with a single sharp pickle; a crunchy, fatty and wobbly square of pork jowl with a baton of rhubarb. Bigger plates include a half duck, dry aged in house and roasted over coals. Of course many plump for the simple pleasures of pizza and pinot out in the piazza. Either way, Montalto is a class act – both in the glass and on the plate.

33 Red Hill-Shoreham Rd, Red Hill montalto.com.au

Great cooking and cool cocktails is a winning combination at Mornington’s Bar Noir

BAR NOIR

Hidden in plain sight on Mornington’s Main St, chefs Stephanie Price and Fred Keene are serving dishes that are up there with some of the area’s best winery dining at Bar Noir. Don’t miss the thin ribbons of kangaroo threaded on smoking blue gum that evokes an Australian summer, while simple pleasures, such as a hazelnut-crumbed pork cutlet is a classic executed with class.

The small room is stylish and comfortable, with summertime sipping outdoors either on the veranda or on the street, and owner Ben Townsend’s two decades of shaking and stirring means there’s much good drinking to be done – including the signature Bar Noir martini.

Bar Noir, 37 Main St, Mornington. Facebook.com/BarNoirBarNoir

CENTRAL VICTORIA

MR JONES

While it was sad to see Catfish, one of the state’s best Thai restaurants close, happily owners Damien and Danielle Jones haven’t left Ballarat and have reopened the smart and stylish Euro-bistro Mr Jones in its place. It was out with the bold black-and-red of the Catfish dining room and in with a smart look of slate grey carpets and a black sculptural mirrored ceiling, large picture windows let the historic Bakery Hill surrounds in. Come summer, a large streetside deck will provide for alfresco sipping and supping.

The old Catfish Thai in Ballarat has been reborn as the rather brilliant Euro bistro Mr Jones

Choose your own dining destiny, from small snacks through full degustation, but a terrific salad of Shaw River mozzarella tossed through fresh broad beans, salty olives and pickled garlic is a fresh and fabulous opening act that shouldn’t be missed.

Excellent housemade morcilla is another winner, while elegantly smoked duck with whole-roasted beetroot is all class – as is the roasted butternut pumpkin with ricotta and almonds.

Desserts, by Danielle, include a textbook sweet-sharp raspberry sorbet and velvety vanilla ice cream served with rosewater-poached rhubarb and crushed meringue.

It makes for an all-round easily enjoyable package, helped in no small way by warm, welcoming service from a keen young team. Mr Jones is yet another feather in Ballarat’s culinary cap.

42-44 Main Rd, Bakery Hill, Ballarat. mrjonesdining.com.au

THE FARMERS’ ARMS

The best country pubs no longer just offer pots, pool and a parma but are increasingly celebrating the best of their region and The Farmer’s Arms in Creswick is a perfect case in point.

A focus on regional produce - such as this dish of Tuki farm lamb - makes a meal at the Farmers Arms Hotel, Creswick, a must.

Here you’ll find house-made charcuterie and in-house whole beast butchery as well as great local beers and a wine list made up of drops from the nearby Macedon Ranges.

Head into the handsome dining room and order the regional tasting platter filled with great meats, decadent croquettes, pickled veg and black garlic butter to spread on warm sourdough.

Housemade bangers on buttery mash are a homely winner, while lamb from Tuki farm up the road is a brilliant dish of cutlets and slow-cooked shoulder and a pithiver (a puff pastry pie) filled with ragu.

Putting the beer into garden at the Farmers Arms Hotel in Creswick

A good line in steaks, a changing pie of the day and a couple of housemade pastas (gnocchi, fettuccine) – along with that parma for pub purists – round out the offering.

A super cute outdoor area puts the garden into beer garden and is the perfect spot for a sunny afternoon. The Farmer’s Arms charms are well worth a drive, for this is the type of country pub we’d love to see more of.

31 Albert St, Creswick. farmersarmscreswick.com

BISTRO LOLA

Castlemaine’s Bistro Lola, housed at the bustling Theatre Royal, has welcomed a new chef into the kitchen. Carly Lauder – who cooked the fabulous long lunches at Bress Winery for years, managed Castlemaine’s Public Inn and, most recently, worked alongside Annie Smithers at Trentham’s Du Fermier – has put an Italian stamp on the bistro’s menu and now Lola is better than ever.

There are many good reasons to pay a visit but perhaps the most compelling are the olive all’ascolane – crumbed green olives stuffed with pork and thyme and fried to a crunch. Terrific roasted pumpkin agnolotti tossed through brown butter and hazelnuts might follow, while a generous plate of slow-roasted lamb with cannellini beans and salsa verde shows country-style hospitality that belies a sub $30 pricing. Add a fabulous wine list championing local heroes and you have a charming bistro winner that’s open for dinner Thurs to Sat and now also lunches on weekends.

30 Hargraves St, Castlemaine. bistrolola.com.au

THE PUB WITH TWO NAMES

Don’t let the name fool you – the Pub With Two Names isn’t actually a pub. Sure you’ll get a pint of Furphy and a feed, but this new lease on life for Ballarat’s Peter Lalor Hotel has eating as its main focus. Artist David Bromley took over this historic corner pub and has filled it with his distinctive signature look, while a couple of Ballarat’s experienced hopso operators have taken charge of the food and drink.

The David Bromley-filled interior of the Pub with Two Names

There’s a broad South American lean to the menu that features, as its mainstay, 10 proteins from the parilla – the Argentinian char grill – that range from 280g of eye fillet through monster 1.3kg tomahawk. You’ll find the expected hits – burgers, bangers, a half roasted chook – are augmented with more exotic fare that includes a Brazilian “pirao” style pumpkin soup, while sweet teeth will love the complex dessert plates.

The beef asado is just one of th meaty dishes offered from the Argentinian “parilla” grill.

A big wine list, good range of beers on tap and good service add up to a winning package.

The Pub With Two Names, Cnr Mair and Doveton St, Ballarat. thepwtn.com.au

BELLARINE PENINSULA

MOVIDA LORNE

Following a successful pop up last summer, MoVida has opened a permanent home by the beach on the ground floor of the Lorne Hotel.

MoVida chef/owner Frank Camorra is ready for a summer of fun in the sun at the new MoVida at the Lorne pub.

Along with the dining room where big pans of paella, terrific tapa, sherry and sangria will be on high rotation through summer, there’s also an accompanying Alimentary deli and wine store for holiday-makers and Lorne locals alike to stock up on Iberian fare – cheese, pickles, preserved seafood and tapas to go.

176 Mountjoy Pde, Lorne. movida.com.au/lorne

HOT CHICKEN PROJECT ANGLESEA

It’s going to be a hot summer – no matter what the weather does – thanks to Aaron Turner.

The Igni chef has opened an Anglesea offshoot of his popular Geelong Hot Chicken Project so holidaymaking hordes and locals alike can chow down on the Nashville-style fried chicken for which the original is rightly famed.

The new Anglesea outpost of Aaron Turner’s Hot Chicken Project.

There’s a fridge full of cool craft beers and natural wines to go with the fries, sides and choice of meat that range in heat from Southern through Evil. Hot stuff indeed.

The hot chicken that ranges in heat from Southern through Evil.

143a Great Ocean Rd, Anglesea. thehotchickenproject.com

BLACKMANS BREWERY

Torquay’s boutique brewery Blackman’s is not only a top spot for beaut beers, but is also where you’ll find an excellent Italian feed, thanks to chef Glenn Laurie who’s putting lessons learnt at London’s famed River Café to work on a the menu here. Bites just made for beers include pork and veal meatballs, pan-fried provolone cheese on toast, and Blackman’s beer-battered onion rings while larger plates, such as the slow-cooked pork in milk and sage or the backed semolina gnocchi with sage and parmesan, are a step up from the usual beer barn fare.

Book a table, raise a glass and get stuck in. Saluti!

26 Bell St, Torquay. blackmansbrewery.com.au

YARRA VALLEY

SEVILLE ESTATE

They are James Halliday’s reigning Australian Winery of the Year and have trophies for the best shiraz and pinot noir sitting on the shelf. Pay a visit to the beautiful new cellar door at Seville Estate and find out what all the fuss is about.

It’s not just the swag of winning wines that’s proving a drawcard – though the cellar door boasts some of the most spectacular views across the valley of any – but the restaurant where a weekly changing menu of local produce is served up in a beautiful Scandi-chic room filled with living greenery.

A long lunch at Seville Estate winery is must this summer

Crunchy-crusted sourdough cob hot from the oven might precede a vibrant patch of freshly plucked veg dressed in bright, punchy vinegar; terrific radishes with housemade goat’s curd; and gorgeously pan-tanned gnocchi with smoked chicken and tarragon, all matched with estate wines, some of them rare releases only available here.

65 Linwood Rd, Seville. sevilleestate.com.au

DOMINQUE PORTET

They produce one of the best rose wines in the Valley – some say the state – and the father-son team of Dominque and Ben Portet continue to kick goals across a range that includes shiraz, cabernet and Burgundian-inspired chardonnays. A new chef, Jarrod Hudson, whose CV includes stints at Giant Steps down the road and Easy Tiger in Collingwood, is in the kitchen promising French classics – steak frites, apple tarte Tatin – with a few Yarra Valley-inspired twists.

And this summer they’ll be serving their famous Provincial-style rose three ways – choose from the Fontaine rose, the Brut rose or cool down with a rose granita.

870 Maroondah Hwy, Coldstream. dominiqueportet.com

GRACEBURN WINE ROOM

He’s the young gun winemaker highlighting and championing the various sub-regions of the Yarra Valley to worldwide acclaim. Pop into Mac Forbes’ urban cellar door in the heart of Healesville where you can taste the current vintages of Mac’s wines, or gain even greater insight into the Yarra Valley and winemaking philosophies through one of the wine flights. And on Friday and Saturday nights, along with Sunday lunch, hang around to enjoy a bottle from the cellar and smart share plates when the cellar door transforms into Graceburn bistro. Bookings essential.

11a Green St, Healesville. graceburn.com

Lock in some time for 400 Gradi pizza in the Rochford Winery vines.

400 GRADI AT ROCHFORD

He’s Melbourne’s Mr Pizza who’s taking over the world one “cornichone” crust at a time, taking his 400 Gradi pizza restaurants around the Middle East and the US. But his heart still beats for Melbourne and Johnny di Francesco has joined forces with Rochford Wines to bring his world-beating, award-winning authentic Napoli-style pizza to the Yarra Valley.

Because there’s nothing quite like the happy marriage between pizza and wine.

878 Maroondah Hwy, Coldstream. rochfordwines.com.au