“Each course on our menu at Laura highlights an agricultural or natural strength of the Mornington Peninsula region – land and garden, vineyard, ocean, livestock, orchard, or dairy – to help secure its agricultural future.”

Heritage Farm duck-egg omelette with braised brassicas and Pt. Leo Estate Pinot Noir sauce; Port Phillip scallop pie with roast Arnotts Vegetable Farm onions and almond sauce; and glazed Benton Rise Farm lion’s mane mushroom and abalone.

Not many restaurants come with a globally significant sculpture park, award-winning winery, cellar door, bistro, and sweeping views over Western Port. But Laura is no ordinary restaurant.

The forty-five-seat flagship at the waterfront Mornington Peninsula wonderland of Pt. Leo Estate, Laura provides a platform for Chef Phil Wood (after years of working with Rockpool’s Neil Perry) to immerse himself in the region’s best. Case in point: the meaty lion’s mane mushroom from Benton Rise Farm is pan-fried, glazed in teriyaki-style chicken stock, and served with an umami-rich abalone dice in a sticky sluice of shiso-spiked beetroot. There are fat mussels from Flinders, and Dory cooked in the estate’s own vine leaves and served with pickled grapes.

It’s confident, modern, and new cooking from a ready-made regional star.

"Phil Wood doesn't use the term fine dining, but his food is finely crafted, balanced, and a prime example of what's happening right now in what may be Australia's hottest dining region." –Michael Harden, Gourmet Traveller