15/20
Regional
Submit to the set-menu Saturday-night dining strictures at this elegant farmhouse and you'll get your reward: elation. Dinner begins at 8pm sharp and consists of a five-course degustation that places diners in the chef's hands. The produce-driven Franco-Italian menu, crafted in a spacious look-in kitchen, changes daily and is proclaimed at each table by chef Gary Cooper. Meals might begin with a caramel-brown quail consomme surrounding a tortellone filled with minced quail and a pair of poached quail eggs. Next, whole blue swimmer crab is artfully stuffed with bands of delicately grated eggwhite, yolk and black flying-fish roe, above tender crab meat in caper mayonnaise. Chunks of fall-apart rosemary-braised kid might be plated on buttered fettuccine. Sliced poached breast and confit leg of guinea fowl shine, bracketed between a light jus and tarragon cream, served with garlic mushrooms over crunchy toast. The room – timber-floored and painted olive with matching velvet curtains – is run by Tim Sawyer, who masterfully walks a tightrope between formality and stand-up comedy. Tap his wine knowledge to select inspired matches, then surrender and enjoy.
Open Wed–Sun 8.30am–5pm; Fri 6–10pm; Sat 7.30–11pm
Typical prices E $15 M $30 D $15; fixed-price Sat dinner $75 (5 courses)
Cards MC V Eftpos
Wine Well-chosen Yarra Valley drops, plus quality picks from Australia and abroad; 9 by the glass; BYO by arrangement
Owners Gary Cooper and Tim Sawyer
Chef Gary Cooper
Seats 80; outdoor seating 
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