Best Farm to Fork Experiences in Australia

Three Blue Ducks can be found just outside of Byron Bay, at Ewingsdale. The restaurant embodies all the notions of sustainable living that the coastal surfie spot is known for. The eatery is set on a 30 hectare farm, which produces everything this sustainable kitchen needs. Pick up an innovative Modern Australian dish to enjoy in the restaurant or grab your meal for takeaway and take off to explore the farm.

Elegant Asian restaurants are rare, so fermentAsian is most welcome to the Barossa Valley and our state's dining landscape. A worthwhile drive from Adelaide brings you to this world-renowned wine region, and awarded contemporary south-east Asian restaurant. Vietnamese owner chef Tuoi Do presents the likes of Barossa Black Angus beef with Penang peanut curry, warm mixed mushroom salad with galangal, and fresh betel leaves with sticky caramelised pork and "incendiary" components. BYO is not available Friday & Saturday evenings

Brae is a Modern Australian restaurant located on 30 productive acres of the Otway Ranges.  With ethical dining at its core, the Brae kitchen crafts unique menus according to what's available in its garden, but it's far from homely. This is haute cuisine; exceptionally crafted with as much focus on aesthetics as flavour. Chef Dan Hunter ensures organic principles are employed at Brae Farm to produce seasonal vegetables, citrus, berries olives and honey.  Brae is 1.5 hour's drive from Melbourne and only 30 minutes off the Great Ocean Road. Rest assured, the dining experience is worth the trip.

Photography: Courtesy of Brae

The Agrarian Cooking School & Kitchen is Tasmania's first sustainable farm-based cooking school. The school also houses a vegetable patch, orchard, berry patch and herb garden, all grown using organic principles. You can choose from either "The Agrarian Experience", which focuses on ways to use seasonal produce; "The Agrarian Masterclass", where you can learn to make cheese and butter, bake bread, ice-cream and confectionery or; "The Agrarian Way", where you can learn the basic skills of sustainable cooking.

Photography: Courtesy of The Agrarian Kitchen

About a 20 minute drive South West of Byron Bay is Harvest, a restaurant, deli and café that oozes country charm and is brimming with creative, perfectly executed fare. Housed in a 1900’s weatherboard cottage, in the quaint town of Newrybar, Harvest is more upmarket than most Byron Bay offerings. The kitchen turns out Modern Australian cuisine using organic produce from the surrounding Byron Bay hinterland.

Visitors to Oakridge Wines often get tastefully distracted. Set to sniff the bramble nose of a red, whiff of chef's calamari lures them to dine instead. Said cephalopod is served both braised and crisped, with coconut kasoundi, strawberry clams and squid ink. Enough to take your mind off the drink. Not. You will leave this Coldstream winery happy either way.

Just 90 minutes from Sydney, the quaint village of Berrima is home to Eschalot. There are a number of reasons why Eschalot is an award-winning restaurant; its dining room is one of Berrima's most beautiful heritage buildings and the service is warm and polished, but its Eschalot's French-Australian menu that has sealed its reputation. Dishes are developed with the seasons in mind, as is the service; guests enjoy a view to the garden in summer and pre-dinner drinks are served by the open fire in winter.

Escape the big smoke and embrace the charming rural surrounds of Mona Farm in Braidwood, approximately 200km's south-west of Sydney and only 55 kms from Canberra.. There are several accommodation options to select from each designed with sophisticated country decor to make you feel right at home. Mona Farm offers activities like discovering their contemporary art collection, fly fishing and an interactive farm tour. For personally delivered gourmet meals and private events, make sure you check out the executive chef and catering options. The dishes celebrate produce from the Braidwood area and as far as the South Coast, for inhouse guests and functions.

The latest dining concept to hit Bayswater Road, Farmhouse combines a changing set menu with a communal dining philosophy. Bookings are taken at either 6.30pm or 8.30pm and then guests file in to take a seat at the long communal table to enjoy a four-course meal which features local and sustainable produce. The menu is changes regularly and uncomplicated, honest Modern Australian fare - just like going home to the farm.