Food-loving road trippers in Victoria have traditionally headed to Daylesford for a weekend of eating and drinking, but nearby Castlemaine is adding more reasons to visit, whether for lunch, an overnight stay or the weekend. New chefs and restaurateurs, many of them trading the big smoke for gum trees, are joining established destinations such as Bar Midland, with its ambitious Victorian-only cooking, and the charmingly laid-back Theatre Royal, purveyor of pizza and spritzes.

Chef Ali Currey-Voumard, who’s led The Agrarian Kitchen eatery in Tasmania and Public Wine Shop in Fitzroy North, has just taken up residence in the kitchen of newly opened boutique hotel Temperance House, a restoration of what was the Empyre Hotel. A Table Bistro is the name of the temporary restaurant she’s running with partner Mali Mitchell-Court until late March, serving humble farmhouse dishes drawn from Italy and France.

Her set menus (from $77) – available only at lunch – will be written fresh each week after visits to local farms and growers. Cold roast beef using Warialda belted Galloway might be served as a starter with anchovy mayonnaise, new-season potatoes are paired with chives and fromage frais, while summer tomatoes star in a tart with pine nuts.

A bar menu is available at other times with house-made terrine, cheese from local makers such as Holy Goat or Long Paddock, good bread from Dairy Flat Farm in Daylesford and, sometimes, pissaladiere, the anchovy and olive tart from Nice. A whole page of Victorian wines (most of them grown nearby) is joined by Castlemaine-made pastis and seasonal cocktails, including elderflower spritz.

68 Mostyn Street, Castlemaine, atablebistro.com

Local brewer Love Shack’s Public Bar and Bistro is open seven days for retro pub fare given clever flavour boosts by chef Joel Baylon (ex-The Moon, Aru).

Think devilled eggs, a quarter-chicken with peas and bacon, chicken schnitzels and an extensive burger menu, including a barramundi patty in Love Shack beer batter.

The brewery, which started in early 2022, added a full kitchen last August, allowing a step up from its menu of toasties and giving locals more reasons to hang out in one of the booths in the timber-rich space.

Vegetarian dishes such as eggplant parmigiana, fried cauliflower with ranch dressing, and a crunchy take on potato salad fly out the door, a reflection of the town’s changing demographic. Affordability was key for co-owner Conna Mallett: most dishes are under the $25 mark, with pots of draught beer costing just $5.

26 Hargraves Street, Castlemaine, loveshackbrewingco.beer

Halfway between Melbourne and Castlemaine is Romsey, a picturesque Macedon Ranges town close to Hanging Rock. The postcard of an idyllic country town is now complete with the reopening of the local pub.

Called The 1860 Romsey, the venue is located in what was Romsey’s original pub (yes, built in 1860), which pulled its last beer in 1944. After its most recent stint as a wine bar, the venue’s taps are flowing again, pouring $8 schooners as part of a bid to keep regulars coming back.

But visitors are coming from as far as Albury-Wodonga to sit in the beer garden, according to co-owner Alex Gorman, a space that holds 450 people with a converted caravan for a bar and stately trees for shade.

Big groups might share the rosemary and thyme butterflied chicken or a large platter of nachos, while counter meals cover the basics such as parmas and burgers, plus contemporary fare like house-made ricotta gnocchi.

119 Main Street, Romsey, the1860.com.au