LOCATION Located along Victoria’s Shipwreck Coast at Port Fairy, approximately four hours drive from Melbourne.
PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAA drive through the countryside could never be too much to ask when looking forward to the earthy flavours of Ryan Sessions’ menu. The quaint restaurant is housed in one of Victoria’s oldest inns that harks back to the nineteenth century and sits in the picturesque seaside town of Port Fairy. The charming space adorned with white linen, elegant glassware and modern artworks forms the perfect palette for Sessions’ artistic creations. He sources most of his ingredients from the sea which nearly laps at his doorstep, from the restaurant’s own vegetable garden or through his foraging for wild ingredients. The menu changes every few weeks, with two and three course options available, but to really make the most of dinner, try the degustation menu to enjoy an interesting and exciting dining experience. Seafood is a focus of many of the dishes on the menu, but locally sourced duck, lamb and suckling pig are also highlights.
A dinner dish to grace your crisp white table cloth may include yabbies with asparagus, almonds, nasturtium. Complex with flavours it also features abalone with shellfish consommé, radish, black garlic, borage and samphire. Rich flavours embody the duck breast which is served alongside delicate duck leg brik, prosciutto and confit onions. A glossy porcelain plate presents braised lamb shoulder whose flavours influence the accompanying local greens. Spring blooms have inspired dessert with the simple listing of ‘flowers, nectar, petals’ translating into a pretty selection of floral flavours and light, blossoming tastes. Saffron and honey cake, gentle elderflower jelly, violet-infused ice cream and delicate rose meringue are scattered with wildflowers and petals which are the inspiration behind the petite creations. The food is augmented by a comprehensive wine list of more than 250 vintages sourced both locally and abroad and wife Kirstyn Sessions effortlessly runs the front of house. It all adds up to a regional dining experience that is well worth the travel time, and there is even accommodation available for those who don’t want to wander too far from the woods after dinner.
Angela Costanzo