Australia the gourmet way

The frequently touted cuisine title of 'modern Australian' is more likely to include tastes of Asia, Europe and every corner of the world. Eating is part of the Australian experience – the melange of cuisines, the freshest produce and the modern, innovative and distinctly Australian way it is served up. Chefs and restaurants Down Under are garnering international attention. Talented young guns are producing cutting edge food, with an emphasis on fresh seasonal and regional produce. Gourmet retreats and fine restaurants are also springing up in regional areas across the county in places like Mudgee, Orange, the Margaret River, Mornington Peninsula, the Limestone Coast, and the Queensland hinterland. Here you can take farm gate tours, follow farm trails or visit wineries. Try a tasting plate, take a food tour, or splash out at five star hotels, resorts and retreats, where you can indulge in intimate gourmet experiences.

Australia's wine regions are producing fabulous wines and food. Take a private plane or helicopter to lunch in the Hunter, Yarra, Clare or Swan Valley. There are endless perfect settings for outside dining, whether it’s dinner in the desert under the big, starry skies at Uluru or a feast of ocean catch on the shore. Fantastic food accompanied by truly great wine is always on the menu in Australia. Now that the rest of the world has discovered the Taste of Australia the country has become a culinary destination par excellence. Join us in celebrating the evolving and exciting world of food and wine in Australia.
Key facts
* Cheong Liew’s signature dish, The Four Dances of the Sea, was once nominated by The Weekend Australian as Australia’s national dish. American Food & Wine magazine has also named Cheong one of the 'world’s 10 hottest chefs alive'.
* The 1990 Penfold’s Grange became the first wine outside California and France to be named Wine Spectator magazine’s Best Red Wine in the World.
* Absynthe on the Gold Coast was recently named as Australia’s Best Restaurant by British newspaper The Daily Mail.
* If you thought Port Douglas was just a sleepy seaside resort, think again. At 26 Spencer Patrick was the youngest chef to be awarded a Michelin star. After cooking in London's top eateries alongside such chefs as Raymond Blanc and Marco Pierre White, he has started a new venture, Harrisons, in Port Douglas, dishing up world class food.
* Tetsuya Wakuda’s Sydney restaurant has been voted among the top ten restaurants in the world numerous times. The French-Japanese food from Sydney’s kitchen wizard has dazzled the rest of the culinary world with his cool, elegant inner-city restaurant, which regularly appears on lists of the world’s finest dining experiences. The dinner menu is a fixed-price, degustation-style kaiseki menu of around a dozen courses.
* The Lakeside Restaurant at Cape Lodge in Western Australia’s Margaret River wine region, was recently voted number four in the world for food by Conde Nast Traveller.
* Lizard Island, 240km north of Cairns and 27km off the coast of North Queensland, was recently named the Best Desert Island Escape by the Forbes Traveller 400, the premier list of deluxe hotels. It also ranked sixth place in the Top 20 International Hideaways list by Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report.
* Nine Sydney restaurants were awarded three stars in Australian Gourmet Traveller’s 2009 list of the best 100 Australian restaurants.
* Famed English seafood celebrity chef Rick Stein has moved to Australia and taken over at Bannister’s Lodge, a retreat on the stunning NSW South Coast at Mollymook.
Uniquely Australian
*Join the Kitchen Table at Aria, one of Australia’s award winning restaurant with panoramic views overlooking Circular Quay and the Sydney Opera House and high profile chef Matt Moran at the helm. With this exclusive in-kitchen fine dining experience, guests sit elevated on an observation platform within the kitchen, where they can observe the spectacle and drama of busy frontline chefs at work and interact with their chef as each course is created, from raw ingredients to plate. The Kitchen Table menu consists of eight tasting courses featuring some of Moran’s signature dishes and matching wines, creating a fabulous food experience.
* Eat at the restaurant awarded Australia’s best two years in a row by leading food guide Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide. Try the degustation menu of three hatted chef Peter Gilmore at Quay, which has fabulous views overlooking Sydney Harbour, the Opera House and Circular Quay from the top level of a cruise passenger terminal.
* Head to a relaxing gourmet retreat just outside Sydney. Renowned Sydney chef and cookbook author Stefano Manfredi who pioneered Modern Italian in Australia has taken over at Bells at Killcare, a relaxing country gourmet retreat at Killcare on the NSW Central Coast. Manfredi is also in charge of the menu at exclusive sister property, Pretty Beach House where guests get to eat whenever and wherever they’d like, on demand.
* Sample chef Cheong Liew’s sublime eight-course degustation menu, a gastronomic journey that you’ll never forget at one of South Australia’s top luxury dining experiences, The Grange Restaurant in the Adelaide Hilton.
* Discover the history of Australia’s premier wine at this world-renowned Australian establishment, home to South Australia’s most famous wine, Penfolds Grange. Explore the cellars, take a tutored tasting of premium wines, dine in one of Australia’s best restaurants and treat yourself to one of the most famous wines on the planet at Penfold’s Magill Estate, which is also home to Magill Estate Restaurant which is consistently rated one of the State’s top fine dining experiences.
* Eat your way around the island of Tasmania, a gastronomic paradise. In Hobart there’s Gondwana, Lebrina, Marque IV, Moorilla Estate and, just out of the city, Meadowbank Estate. In Launceston, Stillwater Restaurant and the Mill Providore, beside the beautiful Tamar River, has grown into one of Australia's favourite food destinations. In the north, regional fare features the stunning Georgian homestead Calstock, near Deloraine; on the west coast, gracious dining on the edge of the wilderness at Franklin Manor, Strahan; in the south, the stunning architecture of Peppermint Bay restaurant and provedore at Woodbridge; or the rammed earth restaurant at Home Hill Winery.
* Enjoy three days of tasting and discussing Tasmania's finest food and wines at Cradle Mountain Lodge. Indulge in a gourmet extravaganza, rated among the country's best food and wine experiences. Cradle Mountain Lodge has hosted Tasmania's premier culinary event, Tastings at the Top for the last 15 years. A stellar line-up of providores this year includes boutique winemakers, beer brewers and specialist growers from various regions in Tasmania. Taste your way from degustation dinners to wine tastings; to wilderness walks and decadent spa treatments at the famous Waldheim Alpine Spa, Tastings at the Top encompasses the very best Tasmania has to offer.
* Experience Wineglass to Wine Glass. Walk from Freycinet Lodge to Wineglass Lookout then down to the white-sanded shores of Wineglass Bay where a banquet awaits. Indulge in Tasmania's finest food and wine near the turquoise waters of the Freycinet Peninsula on Tasmania’s pristine East Coast. You will be served local produce and cool-climate wines, including the freshest seafood from east coast waters, Tasmanian beef and quail, salads and Tasmanian cheeses.
* Retreat to The Louise, an idyllic vineyard retreat in the heart of Shiraz country with breathtaking views, 15 luxury suites and a highly acclaimed onsite restaurant, Appellation. One of Australia’s top regional dining experiences, it is the perfect haven for food and wine connoisseurs, surrounded by hundreds of acres of vineyards in the Barossa Valley.
* Head out on a Food Safari of South Australia with Outback Encounter. A "foodie's" dream come true, you’ll try the freshest local produce and some of the best wines Australia has to offer. This tasting journey on a 9-seater private Propjet Charter plane, will take you across the South Australian state to meet with gourmet chefs, cheese makers, abalone farmers, olive oil producers, wine makers, tuna farmers, and swimming with the mighty Southern Blue Fin Tuna. This seven day Food Safari covers Kangaroo Island to the Eyre Peninsula and the Barossa Valley to hunt, collect and experience various local and regional delicacies.
* Tour the Margaret River region in style. Starting from either Injidup Spa Retreat or Smith’s Beach Resort in Yallingup, you’ll be picked up in a luxurious ivory Silver Shadow Rolls-Royce for a short tour. Awaiting you will be a gourmet lunch picnic. Then retreat to your villa and watch the sun set with a bottle of Pol Roger Champagne or order in-villa dining with a private chef.
* During a luxury stay in WA’s Margaret River region indulge in the scenery as well as the gastronomic delights and world-class wineries of the Margaret River region on a Margaret River Discovery Tour with either an exclusive small group or private touring. Visit a range of Margaret River's wineries, from the small emerging superstars to the esteemed estates, then indulge in a special food and wine pairing lunch at Cape Mentelle winery.
* Take a cooking lesson with award winning Executive Chef Tony Howell at the recently opened cooking school at the five-star Cape Lodge in the Margaret River region. A three hour class in the gourmet kitchen of Cape Lodge’s magnificent Private Residence, is followed by a five course dinner in the Cape Lodge Restaurant where Howell changes the menu daily and uses only the finest local produce. Located on its own vineyard on the banks of a private lake, three hours south of Perth, Cape Lodge is one of Australia’s finest boutique hotels.
* Indulge in a city sights stroll for the ‘epicurious’ in Melbourne, the Victorian capital. Taking in classic restaurants, and the latest buzz venues, The Sommeliers City Walk is a unique and interesting way to see and experience what’s happening in Melbourne’s wine and food scene. Small groups stroll and visit three restaurants tasting nine wines matched with nine generous menu “tastes” in an intimate setting with the city’s top sommeliers.
* Head east from Melbourne, to the rolling hills, contented cows and fabulous food of the famous Yarra Valley, an easy hour's drive. The Yarra Valley is now the home to over 40 wineries. Visit Domaine Chandon, the Australian arm of French Champagne giant Moet et Chandon. Stop for lunch at Yering Station, the site of the Valley’s oldest winery, with sensational views and delicious food. Then stay the night at Chateau Yering where you can continue the gastronomic journey.
* Follow your appetite to the region that takes indulgence to another level, Daylesford, a leisurely 90 minute drive from Melbourne. With tranquil rural atmosphere, spas and wonderful food, dinner at the multi-award winning Lake House is a 'must' destination for lovers of good food and wine. Daylesford is the gourmet heart in a region known for its highly-rated restaurants and food so fresh it comes straight from the paddock to your plate: chestnuts, wild mushrooms, morello cherries, wild berries, rabbits, venison, duck, free-range chickens and eggs, trout, yabbies, lamb and beef. The Lake House is part of the Small Luxury Hotel complex complete with six acres of manicured gardens, stylish accommodation and the Salus Day Spa.
* Learn the art of modern French cooking at Absynthe on the Gold Coast, recently named Australia’s Best Restaurant by British newspaper The Daily Mail. Learn from star chef Meyjitte Boughenout as he leads hands-on cooking classes on the professional art of food preparation and presentation. French-born Meyjitte has won numerous awards in Australia and scored two Michelin stars as head chef at a prestigious Belgian restaurant. Classes are held over four days from 2pm until 7pm on-site in the Absynthe kitchen.
* Dine with the Tides, a romantic dinner for two on the jetty at Orpheus Island, listening to the waves lap the shore and feeding the marine life below.
* Savour the seven course degustation menu at Peppers Spicers Peak Lodge, a two hour drive south-west of Brisbane. Breathe in the fresh mountain air and indulge in fine food and wine at this all-inclusive lodge, with just 10 luxurious suites, which sits atop a large private cattle property. At 1,100 metres, it’s the highest retreat in Queensland. If you feel like taking lunch into the great outdoors, the chef can prepare a gourmet hamper picnic for you.
* Stay in a luxury mountain retreat at Spicers Clovelly Estate, the first property in the new Spicers Retreats, Hotels and Lodges range of boutique properties, which opened this year near Montville in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Set on nine hectares of lush country land, with only 10 suites it has modern French furnishings and luxury linens, a day spa and a fine dining restaurant with an innovative four or seven course degustation menu and extensive wine list.
* Eat in the Dune House at the heart of the camp at Longitude 1310, a stunning communal facility offering exquisite food and wine, a do-it-yourself or fully serviced cocktail bar, extensive library and reclusive lounge. Longitude 1310 is quite simply one of the best wilderness hotels in the world where you stay in one of fifteen tented sanctuaries in the desert, catering for just 30 guests and set atop an isolated sand dune near Uluru.
* Dine under a sparkling outback sky when you experience the Sounds of Silence. With the setting of the sun behind Kata Tjuta and Uluru in the distance, guests dine under the canopy of the desert night, your very own storyteller shares tales as told in the stars. As the sun sets, you feast on a buffet of authentic Australian delicacies including barramundi, kangaroo, emu and crocodile, bush salads and sweets, complemented by Australian wines. This is a unique dining experience that provides the romance of the desert, gourmet outback fare and star-filled heavens.
* Get close to politics and the corridors of power at The Ginger Room in the members dining room of Old Parliament House, one of Canberra’s most elegant and historic settings. European and Asian influences are drawn on by the owner/chef to create an exciting menu with an impressive selection of Australian, Italian and French wines and the adjoining lounge area is great for pre or post dinner drinks.
* Follow the Poacher's Way, trying one or all of the charming venues that form part of it. Dine with a vineyard view towards Parliament House at the extended Pialligo Estate Cafe in Pialligo. Feast while overlooking the mysterious Lake George at the Lerida Estate Winery. Delicious food matched with cool climate wines await at Lambert Vineyards near Bungendore and Shaw Vineyard Estate, Murrumbateman. Other outstanding country restaurants on the Poacher's Way include Grazing, the 2007 Australian Tourism Award Winner, at Gundaroo; Poachers Pantry Smokehouse Cafe near Hall where you can try delicious gourmet smoked products; the Lynwood Cafe in Collector and Cafe Schönegg which offers innovative dishes made with fresh regional produce at Country Guesthouse Schönegg.