Destination Restaurant

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Tedesca Osteria – Red Hill, Mornington Peninsula – Monday 7 November 2022 – Lunch

The plaudits have come from seemingly everywhere for a relatively new destination restaurant, with attached accommodation, a leisurely hour or so drive from Melbourne. As with many acclaimed venues, the reasons are somewhat intangible. Sure there must be magnificent food (and wine), service, atmosphere, and environment, but there is often something else that adds the bow needed to be truly great.

Here at Tedesca Osteria, Graceburn House, and our accommodation for the evening, Glasshouse, there is a quality that I need to spend time articulating. Saying there is a friendliness that only the country can provide is too simple. Saying Bridgitte Hafner’s cooking is stunning is true, but her food has been exceptional far earlier in her career than this latest venture, including at a pop-up which gave some indication of her future intentions back in 2015 at Avani Winery. The feeling in the dining room is not uncommon in country dining settings either. Certainly, the majority (if not everyone) in this room is here to have a wonderful long lunch in very capable hands.

It is fair to say there is no fussing in this entire dining room, and zero stuffiness, which naturally puts you at ease. It does mean to not expect incredibly attentive service, but you are not looking around for long, and requests are never met with any resistance. As an example, a few months ago when booking we passed on Catherine’s gluten intolerance. While the staff didn’t openly say they had it noted down, when Catherine mentioned it, they also didn’t make her feel uncomfortable. It was remembered throughout the service, including serving the seafood minus pasta because it sounded so great as a dish and she told our waitperson she didn’t want to miss out.

There is an extensive cellar and the wine knowledge of the waitstaff is impressive. Towards the end as I looked to pair a red with the suckling lamb course, although it was a little heavier on tannins, the fact I was interested in the Dolcetto d’Alba was encouraged by our waitperson. I liked this style where you are assisted to make a decision without feeling obliged to follow one person’s opinion, and actually guided to go with your gut. There was zero upselling.

As you are introduced to the restaurant there is a playful statement that acts partly as a warning, “lunch will last around three and a half hours”. The staff knowing we are staying the night surely helped, but no doubt you cannot finish lunch in less than two and a half hours and we went for four! So playful yes, but true, definitely. Even with our free flowing conversation we did sometimes pause and say “I wonder when the next course is” and it normally arrived momentarily, as if the staff were listening out (but I trust they were not). The utterly delicious bite of a “zeppola”, with the most incredibly pronounced anchovy encapsulated in the Italian deep fried pastry, is not followed immediately with the snacks course, so we enjoy sipping on our Diebolt-Vallois Blanc de Blancs Prestige NV. The champagne is impressive, and the first time we have tried this House.

After a leisurely wait, the snacks come out in all their glory. The Cypriot pita with pumpkin and cinnamon is my favourite for its depth of flavour, and delicate exterior, but everything is delicious with the focaccia really accentuating the various dips and sauces. While the carrots and artichokes straight out of the extensive restaurant garden are delightful, the grilled octopus wows with its perfect texture that is a pleasure to eat.

This is the kind of restaurant that you cannot help walk around and look at the art, and take a deep breath outside of the fresh Red Hill air. On our way outside earlier we caught more than a glimpse of the pasta (sorpresine) which look like tortellini but without any filling. This is served as our next course with king prawns and mussels in an elegant and flavoursome crustacean and romesco broth. What a revelation this dish is to me. Having grown up with loaded “spaghetti marinara” from South Terrace in Fremantle which had the elegance of a sledgehammer, this pasta and seafood from Tedesca is easily the best, and perfectly restrained version I have ever eaten. I openly told the waitstaff that I was thinking of licking the bowl but showed the same restraint the kitchen must to not overdo this dish.

As if knowing the follow up is as important as the star dish (in my opinion), the Bowen coral trout comes out looking like a starlet too. Oh my this is about as good as a little fillet of fish gets. The charred spring onion sauce and pickled shiitakes are terrific too, but nothing takes away the limelight from the trout. We are nearing the end of our Moorooduc Estate Robinson Chardonnay, which has turned out to be a nice selection from a nearby vineyard. It is a premium offering by Moorooduc which is a winery I’ve now had two outstanding bottles from in as many weeks (the other a Pinot Noir at Aru).

I’m now on to the Dolcetto d’Alba (E. Pira by Chaira Boschis) and while the waitperson was right that it is a touch tannic for the suckling lamb, I’m glad I tried it. The lamb is another excellent dish, but I cannot help but think the serving size is to accommodate far bigger eaters than Catherine and I. You don’t get tasty lamb with chickpeas and chorizo often, so we managed to finish every last mouthful in any case. The side salad is also completely finished, suggesting it is far better than average, with the orange really lifting it.

With Catherine’s fresh mint tea, and my coffee ordered, dessert arrived and whilst more petite than our final savoury course, the torte with a filling of rhubarb, strawberries, and fig leaf ice cream, was a tremendous finish to an utterly superb meal. We had nowhere to be except Glasshouse next door to relax for the evening (and enjoy our charcuterie platter we ordered too; post bath!) A long, leisurely, luxurious lunch left us with lasting memories, plans to come back with a group (perhaps in the private room for twelve), and a rather full belly. Monday has never been so good.

Tedesca Osteria (and Graceburn)
1175 Mornington Flinders Road, Red Hill
https://www.tedesca.com.au/
bookings@tedesca.com.au

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Stefano’s – Mildura – Tuesday 28 July 2015 – Dinner

Roasted goat with potatoes

Roasted goat with potatoes

For many, many years, I heard and read about Stefano Di Pieri and his eponymous restaurant. While there have been changes in recent years it did not dampen my interest in making Stefano’s a destination.

Funnily enough, the main change to have Jim McDougall become Executive Chef, with Stefano himself taking a back seat, lasted only a relatively short time for a restaurant that has been around since 1991. I have no idea about the circumstances, but I do find it intriguing given The Age awarded Stefano’s the Regional Restaurant of the Year, most recently while Jim was at the helm.

Back to its original form with Stefano back at the helm meant also a return to the ever changing five course menu instead of Jim’s six or eight course tasting menu. Housed in the cellar of Mildura’s Grand Hotel, the main dining room is a long and tight space mainly suited for tables of two. In adjoining rooms there is more space for groups or private dining.

Parma prosciutto and house made bread

Parma prosciutto and house made bread

Tonight, Catherine and I did something we have not ever done before. We asked to move tables. Coming down into the cellar with only a couple of tables already seated we were taken to a table close to the kitchen, but right outside the bar and drinks service area. Having looked around we couldn’t work out why we were not seated in the more intimate part of the cellar and gladly our waitperson accommodated us. While it is a bit cringe-worthy to change tables, restaurants need to be mindful of giving customers their best tables if they have booked early, and are amongst the first to be seated. As we left we noted the tables further down the cellar like ours had not been offered, and others were seated in the less intimate spots near the kitchen and bar.

That is where any criticisms end. We start with a glass of arneis from Mornington which is one of the few options by the glass on a list focussed on bottles. First course is simply beautiful prosciutto from Parma, and house made bread with fruity extra virgin olive oil. The arneis is a beautiful expression of a lesser known Italian grape that is growing in popularity.

Cheese soufflé

Cheese soufflé

Next comes one of the highlight dishes from recent meals. The cheese soufflé is something that has to be incredible to set itself apart from the many I’ve tasted over many years of dining out. This one has that perfect softness under a quickly grilled exterior, not to mention a nice disk of black truffle adorning the top. Using a modern touch, nettles are distributed through the soufflé which has several cheeses including Parmesan, and a loving béchamel sauce. Over a week on and I still want another bite.

Pork sausage and lentils

Pork sausage and lentils

We get serious with a bottle of 2011 Langhe Nebbiolo from Paolo Conterno. Nebbiolo is one of my favourite versatile food friendly wines from the North of Italy. It is relatively light, but has a good amount of fruit balanced with savouriness, which needs food to bring out its best. Our next course is pork sausage nestled in lentils with preserved mandarin, pickled radishes, and horse radish. The combination is great, with the preserved mandarin lifting each taste, and nicely seasoned lentils perhaps cooked in a deeply flavoured stock, provide more than a filler.

For our pasta course, we have a generous serve of chicken and beef ravioli with a tomato sauce and plenty of Parmesan. The pasta is perfectly al dente with great bite to it, but even better is the filling which has been slow cooked, giving that meaty richness that is at another level than the usual. In fact, it brought back memories of some of the ragus that my friends Nonna’s had cooked for tasting in our Italian class during high school. At that time it was explained that the meat would be cooked for many hours and I can remember being intrigued by why anyone would go to that much trouble but the taste had me. We are in the cellar of one of the amazing Ambassadors of Victoria’s slow cooking movement and it shows.

Ravioli of chicken and beef with tomato

Ravioli of chicken and beef with tomato

Next comes yet another dish that I want to taste again right now. Simply presented, but incredibly beautiful, the goat is dished with fat roasted potatoes and garlic, and a side of crunchy green beans with parsley. This is as good as goat can get; a meat that I search for but rarely find on restaurant menus. The tenderness and deep flavour laced with fat but not dominating the taste is an expression of goat that I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying. And the Nebbiolo shines alongside.

Walnut tart

Walnut tart

Having learned a lot about Stefano’s leanings towards no fuss, highly flavoursome food, simply presented, we were not surprised that dessert was no different. The walnut tart is very similar to a pecan pie, with caramel and perfectly formed pastry combining to provide a deliciously simple dessert. This is the type of dessert course that is not seen enough. No deconstruction or pizazz; just a great sweet ending to the evening.

It’s not cheap, but the bill isn’t unreasonable for the quality of food being dished out, and is far less than when Jim was Executive Chef. Service is reasonable without being at the difficult to reach heights of Stefano’s food. After many years of wanting to try Stefano’s it will probably be a couple of years of wanting to come back. One thing is for sure, there will be no trip to Mildura and surrounds, without a journey down to the cellar.