Editor's Top Picks

by Madeleine Blake

It’s hard to keep up with all the goings-on up this way. Over the past few months we’ve seen new restaurants, bars and cellar doors open and we’ve got some exciting things in the works too. We thought we’d take you on a quick trip around the region, highlighting what’s new and which venues to add to your must-visit list the next time you’re in the area.

Beginning in Lancefield, the Lancefield Brewery, known as the Lost Watering Hole, is set to open in late October. This new brewery will pay tribute to Lancefield’s unique history, as the location of one of the richest deposits of megafauna fossils in Australia. Open 7-days a week, the brewery will have a restaurant onsite and will serve its own premium range of craft brews.

High Street in Kyneton has been a hive of activity with a couple of exciting new openings. A group of hospitality heavyweights, including local Brendan Lane from Musk Lane Wine, recently opened casual wine bar Laverne. This 38-seater venue offers a distinctly European vibe.

Directly opposite Laverne, MasterChef alumni, Monica Mignone, has opened Mignone Cakes. Here, the insta-worthy cakes are all made to order, by hand. Further along High Street you’ll find Pollen. Here you can sip on a coffee while perusing locally made goods.

Heading west, Red Hare Estate recently opened a cellar door, just outside Glenlyon. While, the family-friendly Pig and Whistle Hotel in Trentham East has just launched an impressive new beer garden space.

In Hepburn Springs, the Savoia Hotel has just opened after a major refurb, the light-filled space includes a large bar area, bistro and private dining area. Further down the road, Shizuka Ryokan has also just added a Japanese bathing experience to its already impressive list of offerings.

Speaking of Japanese, Aaron Schembri’s Kadota restaurant was recently named the best

Japanese in Victoria by delicious. We can’t go past the seven-course luxury Kaiseki menu offering.

Finishing off in Creswick, The Three Founders restaurant has just opened at RACV Goldfields Resort. Named in honour of the three brothers who founded Creswick in 1842, this familyfriendly venue features classic favourites using local and seasonal ingredients.

In addition to the many new offerings, we have a raft of amazing events coming up over the coming months. The inaugural Mountain Writers' Festival (4-6 November) will bring a stellar lineup of guest speakers to the town of Macedon. Another new event is Spring Bliss Festival (5 November); this music and wellbeing festival will take place at Hanging Rock.

Our favourite wine event of the year takes place across the many wineries of the region when Budburst (18-20 November) returns. If you haven’t checked out the Macedon Ranges wine region yet, this is the time to do it.

Planning ahead, the much-loved ChillOut Festival will light up Daylesford over the long weekend in March, with a theme of ‘find your wings’ taking inspiration from a recently rediscovered butterfly, native to Lake Daylesford.

Regardless of when you choose to visit, you’re sure to find more than enough to fill a day, a week, or even longer, in this part of the world.

Kadota. Photography by KGMG Creative