A passionate collective of Daylesford hospitality operators – from longstanding daytime diner Cliffy’s Emporium and neighbourhood trattoria Beppe, which recently shuttered – has come together to refurb and reopen the historic Daylesford Hotel.

On the pans is Rob Kabboord, also local to the region, who cut his teeth at Sydney’s three-hatted Quay before a stellar turn with now-closed Northcote diner Merricote and hatted Hepburn Springs gem The Surly Goat.

“As soon as locals saw we were open, those first days were madness,” says Kabboord, who’s struck a clever balance between classic and cheffy dishes for his opening menu.

Crowd-pleasers include a decadent duck pie with sour-cream puff pastry and a hanger steak frites with bearnaise sauce. But Kabboord also dives into his Dutch heritage with bitterballen, bite-sized croquettes he’s currently filling with curry-spiced chicken. Almond-crumbed fried lambs brains with kohlrabi remoulade are a delicious curveball. The offering will chop and change as different hyperlocal produce comes into season.

The grand pub has got the “lick of paint ... and love” it deserved, says Kabboord. Now all forest green and dark timber panelling, you can dine in the cafe-curtained bistro, drink a pint of Carlton Draught or Guinness in the expanded public bar, or get takeaway. The old Beppe woodfire oven is churning out pizzas you can pick up via the drive-through.

The upstairs accommodation isn’t too far away from reopening after its reno, too.

Bistro open Thu 5pm-10pm; Fri-Sun noon-3pm, 5pm-10pm.
Public bar open Wed-Mon noon-10pm; Tue 4pm-10pm. Pizza drive-through and bottle-o open daily, 4pm-9pm.

2 Burke Square, Daylesford, daylesfordhotel.com.au