Brae

“Guided by the principles of sustainability, locality, and seasonality, we grow our own food organically, use regenerative farming techniques to restore the land, and aim to give back more to the land than we take. Water is a precious resource, and is captured and reused as much as possible, and we compost eighty to 100 kilograms of kitchen waste daily, with soft green waste fed to the hens. Over 1,000 local native trees and plants have been planted to support bees, frogs, and birds.”

Sommerlad chicken wood-roasted on the bone and zucchini “nose to tail”; octopus with carrots and lovage; and Brae farm vegetables with grilled green tomato juice.

Formerly head chef at acclaimed Spanish restaurant Mugaritz, Dan Hunter has now embedded himself in native soil – often quite literally. At Brae, his quietly luxurious restaurant and guest house set amid thirty acres of working farm in the Otways, Hunter produces a ruggedly refined cuisine from the region’s produce.

A stunning degustation is full of the unexpected but could include local ingredients such as dehydrated green ants served with pickled cucumber, or a “nose-to-tail“ vegetable, which uses the plant’s fruit, flower, stamen, petals, stem, and leaves.

This level of respect and sense of place is intrinsic to Brae’s magnetic charm. From the ceramics handmade from farm ash and clay to the pre-dessert ramble around the garden, it’s a minutely orchestrated totem to the future of fine dining.