Fire up your tastebuds with these new regional eateries
Head to Room Six in Port Campbell
The Great Ocean Road has plenty of gastronomic highlights, but one hidden treasure that is relatively new on the scene in Port Campbell, is the funky eatery Room Six.
The restaurant is situated in Lord Street, Port Campbell’s main drag and is run by chef couple Tanya Zoch and Jim Sfakinos who have formed a partnership with cooking styles that couldn’t be more different.
Tanya’s speciality is Japanese cuisine, and after more than 10 years in Japan, she has some serious credentials under her belt. Jim on the other hand prepares Mediterranean fare to die for. Combined, the couple turn out mouth-watering meals using quality ingredients in what they call Mediterasian cuisine.
Room Six offers casual dining at its best in Port Campbell with affordable prices and an extensive menu from homemade dips to Saganaki made with local seafood and some quality wine to choose from. The venue can cater for groups as big as 100 and the staff are knowledgeable and friendly. So next time your driving the Great Ocean Road be sure to stop at Room Six, they are open from 10am to 10pm seven days.
For more information: Phone 03 5598 6242 or Email: roomsix@bigpond.com
Wye Beach Hotel
Perched on top of a hill on the Great Ocean Road, the Wye Beach Hotel, is a popular holiday pub with amazing views and a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. The menu includes a number of exotic dishes as well as the ever popular parma and fish and chips.
Try the tasty bar snacks or ‘Gajacks’ with one of the standout being ‘piments farcis’ – long green chilli fingers stuffed with tuna and fried with chickpea batter. These are a few of the much-loved bar snacks from Mauritius the resident chef, Roddy Sooprayachetty, created to spice up the menu.
There are plenty of other popular items including hapuka fish cured with ginger and white wine vinegar and topped with mustard seeds, pickled onions and curry leaves.
The hotel boasts a long and exciting wine list selected to perfectly match the creative offerings from the kitchen. Paul Green and his sister Carolyn have run the Wye Beach Hotel for more than three years and in that time have built a reputation as an exciting eatery as well as a great local which is ideal for a memorable meal or just a cold beer sipped while admiring the superb ocean view.
For more information: call Paul Greene on 03 5289 0240 or go to www.wyebeachhotel.com.au
Geelong’s Base Eatery
New waterfront establishment Base Eatery, located at 6 – 8 Eastern Beach Road in Geelong, has developed an innovative concept to ensure they utilise the best in fresh, local produce. It’s called the Urban Harvest and it’s all about community involvement.
Owner Lea Priest explains there are many talented gardeners in the Geelong region. People who are passionate about growing produce of the highest quality.
“They don’t grow it for commercial reasons; they grow it because they like to eat quality food. Often the fruits of their labour are so plentiful, they are left with more produce than they could ever hope to eat, pickle or preserve,” said Priest.
“That’s where we come in, if the community grows it, we want to cook with it. We want to create food on our menus the whole community can be proud of.”
Base Eatery opened on Boxing Day 2008. The offer is constantly being evaluated and as part of this process an exciting express lunch offer was recently launched. There are more developments on the way too, with the upcoming launch of the new alfresco area including take away coffee served right on the footpath.
Base Eatery is inviting anyone with excess fruit, veg or herbs to contact them. They will buy selected produce at market value.
For more information: call 5221 5339 or go to www.baseeatery.com.au
The Larder – fromagerie and provisions
Beechworth’s reputation as a gourmet travel destination has been further enhanced with Natasha Davis’ fromagerie, Larder, which is located in Camp Street opposite the Beechworth Bakery. A lifelong passion for great food led Davis to Beechworth where she opened Larder late last year. Her mission is to sell the best international and regional speciality cheeses.
Cheese lovers can taste some of the delicious varieties including French Roquefort, Rouzaire Brie aux truffles, La Mancha Manchego, Piano Hill Ironstone and sweet hand stretched, buffalo Mozzarella from Shaw River.
Davis also sells provisions for impromptu picnics or special occasions. Her store offers complimentary hire of wicker baskets packed with mouth-watering terrines, pates, locally smoked trout and small goods as well as Lescure French butter to slather on Laurent Bakery baguettes.
For more information: call Natasha Davis on 03 5728 2299
‘Provincial Pantry’ tasty new online virtual market
North East Valleys of Victoria, home to some of Australia's finest gourmet producers and internationally recognised winemakers, has launched a ‘virtual market’ online. You can it by find by visiting the North East Valleys website and following the link to Provincial Pantry.
Shoppers can browse the virtual shelves for a special bottle of wine, boutique beer, jar of olives or chestnut jam.
The Provincial Pantry has been created through the collaborative efforts of North East Valleys Food & Wine, Hume Murray Food Bowl & Australian Alpine Valleys Agribusiness Forum and supported by Regional Development Victoria.
The High Country includes the renowned food & wine regions of Rutherglen, Beechworth, Glenrowan, The Milawa Gourmet Region, King Valley, Myrtleford, Bright, the Alpine Valley and the Kiewa Valley.
For more information: call Kristy Taylor, Chair – North East Valleys Food & Wine, 0419 540 989