Oakridge in Coldstream celebrates the delicious Yarra Valley region

THIS winery restaurant celebrates the best of the Yarra Valley in a most delicious way, with fresh-from-the-patch veg and lamb from “up the road”.

Taste restaurant review: Oakridge. The Lamb. Picture- Nicole Cleary

THERE is undeniable romance about eating something that was wrenched from the garden but an hour or two earlier.

And in the case of zucchini, a redefining deliciousness comes with it, too.

A bowl of the thickly sliced squash branded by a searing grill until they are black and crisp but retaining their sweet juiciness come simply dressed with lemon, just-picked parsley, and a little peppery oil. As simple as a fresh-from-the-patch veg should be treated, this one dish is a deftly delivered missive of kitchen and garden.

For all the lauded talk of seasonal this and local that fewer chefs can say they are cooking of the land than just writing it. You don’t feed many people with just a few pots of herbs, after all.

For a chef, it shouldn’t get more of the land than the vineyard restaurant. And so it is at Oakridge in the Yarra Valley, where Matt Stone has been in the kitchen for the past few months. Matt earnt his cooking chops over at Margaret River’s Leeuwin Estate — a winery equally esteemed in the chardonnay stakes as Oakridge — so he’s well versed in the language of cellar door dining.

The last time I visited Oakridge was in 2012 when it was a humble cellar door, more rustic shack chic than anything and I pictured this as a fitting space for Matt’s eco-sustainable-
zero-waste sensibilities.

How wrong I was. Sometime in the intervening years the winery spent serious zeros to create an impressive architectural statement. Though striking, it hardly sings of the land, but, once seated in the dining room, the floor-to-ceiling windows with expansive views across those award-winning vines certainly do.

While that zucchini comes from the patch, the rest of the menu is as Yarra Valley as it comes, with lamb from “up the road” providing a perfectly executed plate that’s reason enough to jump in the car.

There’s precision of flavour in the generous serving of excellent meat, the thick pink tranches crowned with crisp skin under a layer of the cleanest-tasting creamy fat. Underneath, curd mingles with a rainbow of roughly chopped tomatoes to create an acidic-cream sauce that cuts through the inherent richness of the lamb, with vibrant green and purple basil leaves and more zucchini — this time raw slivers — finishing the best lamb dish in recent memory.

There’s an Asian lilt to Matt’s menu, with XO sauce and nahm jim and egg custard sitting alongside Eurocentric combos such as pork and fennel and duck with fruit (in this case, blackberries).

That XO sauce, made in house from local trout bits, is full of ginger and garlic savouriness and lifts a dramatic plate piled high with halved yabbies cooked on the grill. With crunchy shallots, finely sliced chilli, coriander and basil, they are very good if hard work — be warned, it’s hands-on messy — and only real fans of the novel will find the effort to reward pays off.

Little effort required with a bowl of three quivery custard rounds that come swimming in a minty broth along with freshly podded peas. Fresh and light it’s a subtle, supple intro to a meal, while the punchy nahm jim atop locally farmed Murray cod is everything it’s not.

With finger limes doing the tangy lifting and a good whack of chilli heat, the spring onion, sliced radishes and salted cucumber rounds combine in a juicy muddle of big flavours that the well-cooked fish handles with grace.

Given Oakridge’s multi-vineyard approach to its extensive cellar, the estate-only wine list has numerous entry points, from a $10 glass of arneis through a $110 bottle of single vineyard pinot.

Though it galls me when bread is treated like a first course, whisked away today without offer of another slice even before the first dishes arrived, here it’s good enough to almost be treated as such.

House-milled flour creates a spongy sourdough with a caramel crust with a satisfying crunch. A cheesy richness to the hand-churned butter seals the deal.

That bread is baked by Jo Barrett, who looks after desserts that are equally memorable. Glistening blueberries swollen with the season are a sharp counter to a rich chocolate mousse and elegant licorice ice cream, while corn custard hidden under a blizzard of flyaway coconut
dust and crunchy chocolate bits is artful and restrained.

There’s a painterly use of striking colours throughout the meal and with three courses for $74 (two are $60), this is a good-value proposition for cooking that’s informed by laudable philosophy without seeming enslaved by it.

There’s an undeniable romance about eating a meal that’s truly true to location, and at Oakridge Matt Stone delivers what’s often promised but rarely executed with such class.

Oakridge

864 Maroondah Highway, Coldstream

Ph: 9362 7333

oakridgewines.com.au

Open: Lunch daily

Go to dish: Lamb, curd, tomato, basil

Score: 15/20

Originally published as Oakridge in Coldstream celebrates the delicious Yarra Valley region