Mildura, Victoria, Australia

Mildura is a town I’ve had the good fortune to visit in the past, primarily when researching The Foodie’s Guide to Melbourne, as a chef to assist with special events for The Slow Food Movement and once as guest chef for the annual writers festival.

But this was some years ago and the opportunity to go back just hasn’t presented itself. Until recently when celebrating a reunion of long time friends. It really was great to reconnect with the food scene I remembered and try out many new hospitality experiences.

Mildura is situated in the North West corner of Victoria near South Australia and New South Wales. It’s basically as far as you can get from Melbourne before crossing another state border. I choose to fly to Mildura (1 hour 20 minutes) as this was only a three night visit. Drive from Melbourne and it’s a solid 6-7 hour trip, around 250 kms each way.

The region’s agriculture sector is vast producing table grapes, citrus, almonds, asparagus, cherries, garlic and an array of quality produce. There is also extensive wine grape production and wineries galore.

The local scenery is beautifully, especially along the river. Combine this with some great restaurants, cafes, bars, wineries, breweries and distilleries and you have plenty to offer food and wine loving visitors.

The Murray River runs through the town and the riverfront is home to good cafes like Bobby + Me and Cafe 1909. Plus the Sunraysia Farmers’ Market each two weeks at Jaycee Park, which is definitely worth a visit.

Walk west along the river from the town centre for lovely water views and plenty of native trees, see Loch 11 on Mildura Weir and the old Mildura Station Homestead.

Drive east around 20 minutes (17 kms) and you will arrive at Trentham Estate Winery. I was impressed with the hospitality here including excellent estate wines to try, good quality platters to order and extensive lawns to sit and relax while taking in the iconic Murray Riverfront views. I’m not sure it could be any better. Highly recommended.

In the heart of Mildura, in the cellar of The Grand Hotel, lies one of this countries iconic restaurants, Stefano’s headed by chef Stefano de Pieri. It is a must-do dining experience when visiting and serves a set menu of beautiful Italian inspired food using ingredients sourced from local farmers, growers and producers. 

The combination of great service, food and wine is just right here. Amazing for an Australian country restaurant which had been overseen by the one chef for over thirty years. Read my complete review of Stefano’s Restaurant here.

If a good local gin, whisky and vodka is up your alley then Fossey’s Distillery is a must visit spot. This is a beautiful venue with a large indoor and outdoor spaces, great cocktails and food to enjoy. Especially love their lime gin with a quality tonic, mulled wine and their winter negroni. The Mildura Brewery is also worth a visit, they serve up some excellent beers and you can view into the brewery area.

I discovered two great coffee spots in the few days I was exploring. Blk Mlk Speciality Coffee is excellent and alongside great coffee they have a quality breakfast menu and sweet treats. Definitely recommended. 

Stefano’s Cafe serves an excellent coffee too, Italian style and full flavoured. Just as I like it. Along with a popular breakfast and brunch. They also have a food store with a selection of Stefano’s preserves and olive oil, local wine, house baked breads and local produce.

No doubt there are more hidden gems in Mildura… and with more time (next time) I’ll get to them. It really is a town worthy of a visit with plenty for food and wine lovers.

If you get to Mildura and discover new places let me know via the comments below.

~ Allan Campion

There is something uniquely European about a restaurant that’s accessed via a curved staircase and which reveals itself to be situated in a beautifully decorated cellar. A cellar set with vases of fresh flowers, platters of seasonal produce, glowing candles and tables ready with white linen to welcome guests.

A cellar where the walls are adorned with colourful artwork and sideboards are filled with bottles of wine and spirits, glassware, crockery and cutlery.  A venue rich in detail and oozing hospitality.

This restaurant is not in Europe, but in the regional Australian town of Mildura, 550 kms north west of Melbourne. It’s overseen by chef Stefano de Pieri and is situated in the Grand Hotel.

Stefano’s is one of Australia’s top country restaurants. Established in 1991, it’s renowned for Italian leaning food utilising local produce, a superb wine list championing Italian varietals and is considered a must-do dining experience when visiting the region.

Over the years there have been a multitude of awards for Stefano including Chef of the Year and Restaurant of the Year in The Age Good Food Guide. He also hosted A Gondola on the Murray TV series which brought the Mildura region to food and wine lovers attention. 

Stefano has also been heavily involved in encouraging diversity in Australian viticulture too with the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show. And, last but not least, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2023 King's Birthday Awards.

Having recently dined at Stefano’s I can say the awards and accolades are well deserved.

The menu is fixed, with dietary requirements all taken into consideration. The tables are adorned with the most exquisite decorated crockery and there’s crunchy grissini to snack on.

Our meal began with excellent house made focaccia, warm olives, prosciutto Toscano, duck terrine and artichokes. Outstanding quality.

This was followed by Stefano’s famous sformato, a traditional Italian entree with a creamy texture like a souffle and flavoured with spinach, parmigiano and onion creme.

Then we moved onto the pasta course which was a beautifully made orecchiette with capsicum sauce and pecorino. Followed by braised lamb shank with barley risotto and green beans. Both of which were excellent.

Then not one, but two desserts. An outstanding rice pudding with mascarpone and an equally good buttermilk panna cotta with poached quince. I really love poached quince and Stefano is a master of panna cotta. A total win for me and a superb finish to a great meal.

As you’d expect with a restaurant of this standard the wine menu is extensive with a huge array of Italian varietals including lots of barolo. Not only that, many of the wines are affordably priced too.

Stefano’s is an iconic Australian country restaurant which has been overseen by the one chef for over thirty years. The restaurant delivers a combination of outstanding food, beautiful hospitality from the front of house team and is a unique venue in which guests get to dine. Bravo Stefano!

Visit Stefano’s Restaurant website here.

Discover many more outstanding food and wine lovers destinations in my Mildura article here.

~ Allan Campion

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A train trip to a regional Victorian restaurant had brought me another excellent dining experience I can add to this list. Fook Shing restaurant is set in the town of Kyneton, about 90 kms northeast of Melbourne, and offers some excellent South East Asian food and hospitality.

I thoroughly enjoyed their Sri Lankan fish cakes with cucumber and red onion sambal, so crunchy, tasty and delicious. Chicken and prawn dumplings are really well made and served with a sauce that had a good hit of Sichuan pepper.

The Chinese egg custard, blue swimmer crab, xo and spring onion is one of the most interesting and creative dishes I ate at this lunch.

Vietnamese tumeric, lemongrass, fish and vegetable curry is beautiful made with generous quantities of tender fish and perfectly cooked vegetables. Crispy half chicken with spring onion and ginger sauce is tender, juice and just right. 

Their crispy bean shoot, coconut and peanut salad is so, so good and unlike anything I’ve eaten previously.

While I don’t always order dessert, the food had been so interesting here I was keen to try more. And the tapioca pudding came with poached quince which is a totally favourite fruit of mine. 

The tapioca was served with coconut which transformed it to a beautiful texture that reminded me of marshmallow (without loosing the tapioca texture). Hints of pandan and black sesame added a lovely finishing touch. Beautifully done. 

I really enjoyed the atmosphere and service at the Fook Shing restaurant dining room too.  Very welcoming and genuine.

There were a number of standout dishes here I would happily eat again. Which makes me look forward to dining at Fook Shing restaurant again. I can definitely recommend making a booking to enjoy this Victorian dining experience.

~ Allan Campion