The Ultimate Passport for… Foodies

There’s no question that Victoria’s North East has a well-deserved reputation as a gourmet region.

Our high quality local produce, including nuts, olives, berries, apples, carrots, honey, meat and fish, combined with our passionate artisans making olive oil, chocolate, coffee, beer, wine, smoked meats & smallgoods, butter & cheese, and the creative flair of our chefs, makes this area paradise for gourmands. What better way to experience then by tasting?

Here’s just a sample of the great value Foodie experiences you’ll find in The Ultimate Passport – Bright & Surrounds

Visit Bright Chocolate for their factory tour – discover how small-batch chocolate is made, from bean to bar. Bright Chocolate is at the forefront of the craft chocolate movement in Australia. Single-origin cacao beans are delivered to Bright from Madagascar, Ecuador, Trinidad and the Dominican Republic. Follow them on their journey as they become high-quality chocolate bars and treats. Participate in the factory tour 2 for the price of 1, then receive 20% off your purchases on the same day. Bright Chocolate is an Australia craft chocolate company making award-winning small-batch single-origin chocolate from their small factory in a restored brick stable in Bright, treating the cacao bean with respect and love. You’ll be surprised and delighted by the amazing flavours, so different (and we think, far superior!) to mass-produced chocolate.

Mt Buffalo Olives is a working olive grove, a shining example of the paddock-to-plate philosophy in action, producing award-winning Extra Virgin Olive Oil, table olives and condiments. Open for Farm Gate tasting & sales from 11am to 5pm Friday to Mondays. Olives are harvested by hand, pressed locally, and bottled on the farm. Stop by for a free tasting, then receive a free gift from their range of vinaigrettes or agrumato (flavoured oil) with the purchase of a 2- or 4-litre cask of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Ever wanted to know what goes on behind the scenes at a coffee roastery? Up for an afternoon tasting of House Blend and Single Origin coffees? Stop by Sixpence Coffee for their roastery tour & tasting. Pay for 1 tour and the second person is free! Sixpence Coffee is a family owned & run small batch coffee roastery nestled in the foothills of the Australian Alps in beautiful Bright. The roastery is warm & welcoming, whether you want to talk coffee, buy beans or simply settle in with a latte. Sixpence Coffee also offers a free gift of Single Origin coffee with the purchase of 250g or more of House Blend.

Let Wandiful Produce tempt you in two ways. A bio-dynamic micro farm, produce store & shed café, Wandiful Produce serves seasonal foods grown on the property or sourced locally: wood-fired chestnut dough pizza, healthy light lunches and a variety of delicious sweet treats. Their gourmet wood-fired pizzas use our specially-prepared chestnut sourdough bases and a variety of seasonal, locally foraged and sourced toppings. Order any 3 pizzas to receive a complimentary dessert pizza. Or, join their Farm Tour & Locavore lunch: a snack of chestnuts roasted over the fire and a tour through the farm paddock. Then, head back to the shed kitchen and create your own gourmet pizzas. Finished with a nut-infused dessert and local coffee or tea. Just a short drive or 25-minute bike ride from Bright in the charming village of Wandiligong.

Get your morning off to a celebratory start with the great value Sparkling breakfast special at Blackbird Café, a warm and welcoming café in Bright. Order two coffees, two of their amazing cooked breakfasts (try the scrambled with salmon or Spanish-style baked eggs with chorizo) and two glasses of local sparkling wine for just $40.

Kick back and enjoy a relaxing breakfast & coffee in the sunshine at the Rail Trail Café after a leisurely 15 minute ride from Bright on the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail. Sip their superb fair-trade organic coffee and try one of their tempting breakfast treats – maybe Jesse’s famous Breakfast Burrito – and enjoy the second breakfast & coffee at half price. The Rail Trail Café is a licensed café serving all day breakfast, meals with a Mexican twist, scrumptious home-made cakes & scones and fair-trade organic coffee. They use free-range eggs and fresh ingredients from the kitchen garden.

The Ox and Hound Bistro is a relaxed and inviting bistro tucked into a cosy shopfront in Beechworth, featuring large windows that saturate the room with light by day and frame the streetscape by night. The dining experience at The Ox and Hound reflects the wide variety of our quality local sub-alpine produce, including ingredients from our kitchen garden, and our seasonal menu delivers classic French & Italian dishes with a local twist. Treat yourself & a friend to a long and luxurious lunch at the Ox and Hound Bistro with a great lunch special for two – 2 courses with matched local wines, for $110.

Gapsted Wines Restaurant is open for lunch every day and takes pride in their outstanding food & wine pairings, using the finest local produce. Each season they select 3 top seasonal dishes for the set 3-course Taste of Season menu. You and a friend can enjoy the Taste of Season menu with matching wines – pay full price for one Taste of Season and the second is half price. Savour sweeping views of the surrounding vineyard, valleys and mountains beyond, while you relax and enjoy the region’s best food and innovative wine varieties.

Lupo’s Kiln Café is a family-friendly café and restaurant in a repurposed tobacco shed furnished almost completely with recycled materials. Lupo’s offers great coffee, breakfast, fresh hand-made pasta & sauces and housemade cakes & sweet treats, all served with a huge portion of country, Italian-style hospitality. Fresh, house-made pasta is the specialty at Lupo’s Kiln Café. All of their pastas and sauces are made fresh by hand in the traditional Italian style. This really is pasta just like Nonna makes. Order 2 pasta dishes from their outstanding selection and two glasses of house wine (or 2 coffees) for just $35. Enjoy a seat on the outdoor deck with magnificent views over Mount Buffalo, while the kids play in the awesome fully-enclosed playground.

Brown Brothers is one of Australia’s leading family-owned wine companies, founded in 1889 in Milawa, in the lower reaches of the King Valley. Their Milawa Cellar Door offers perhaps the largest range of wine varieties of any cellar door in Australia, and is home to the renowned restaurant Patricia’s Table. Dine at Patricia’s Table for lunch: 2 courses matched with Brown Brothers wine. Chef Douglas Elder is passionate about using fresh local produce to complement Brown Brothers wine, and the menu changes regularly to feature the freshest produce and new release wines. Afterwards, receive 20% off all wine purchased from the Cellar Door.

Enjoy one of Bastoni Pizzeria’s authentic wood-fired pizzas along with a fresh salad and two glasses of wine or beer at this friendly pizzeria in the heart of Myrtleford. Choose from the traditional margherita or napoletana, one of the tasty pizze bianche (white pizzas), or perhaps a limited-time-only Bastoni special. You’re sure to find a pizza that delights the taste buds! Or, if you’re in Myrtleford for dinner, their dinner special includes 2 pizzas and 2 glasses of house wine or beer for $35.

Local, Tasty, Lively – that’s the motto at Stones Throw restaurant at Hotel High Plains, and they strive to live up to it by using locally grown and sourced ingredients wherever possible and by selecting wines from many local boutique wineries. Come and try the fresh summer menu (designed by head chef Ben Bound formerly of Vue de Monde), experience their friendly & attentive service, and relax in comfort and style in front of their open fires. The Ultimate Passport features two exclusive offers for Stones Throw – either receive two drinks for the price of one with every meal, or order an entrée and main and receive a complimentary dessert. Located on Big Muster Drive in Dinner Plain, just a 10-minute drive from Mt Hotham Alpine Resort.

When you deserve a long, luxurious, three-course dinner for two, milch café (bar) can help. Each order a starter (menu changes seasonally but options may include pan-fried saganaki or pulled pork taco), main (may include the highly healthy ‘Good Stuff Salad’, confit duck leg or grass-fed scotch fillet), and your dessert is FREE. milch is the place to be in Falls Creek village, a sumptuous mix of bar meets restaurant. The best coffee on the mountain, house-made cakes & treats, extensive cocktail list, share plates, kids’ meals – all in a modern dining room with a fresh & relaxed feel.

On the lighter side, a number of our local wineries, cafés and restaurants have special offers exclusive to The Ultimate Passport for tasting platters combined with wines:

Stop in at Boynton’s Feathertop Winery cellar door right off the Great Alpine Road in Porepunkah, and refuel with their 2-for-1 tasting platter, selected from a huge range of local deli products, including cured & smoked meats, local cheeses, housemade baguettes, dips & pestos, olives, patés and local trout. Sit back and take in the magnificent views of Mount Buffalo and the Ovens Valley while you nosh on your beautifully prepared platter and sip matching wines.

Amulet Winery is the pioneer of Italian varieties in the iconic region of Beechworth – a small-volume family-owned winery producing a diverse range of Italian & French varieties, giving traditional styles a unique twistAmulet Wines is also the home of Beechworth Cider. Stop by the Cellar Door, just 10 minutes’ drive from Beechworth, for a free tasting, then purchase two glasses of wine from their diverse range of Italian & French style varietals, or two glasses of Beechworth Cider, and receive a complimentary deconstructed tasting plate, featuring an extensive array of seasonal local produce, to enjoy with your drinks.

A stop at Milawa Cheese Company is a must if you’re intent on sampling the finest offerings of the Milawa Gourmet Region. Grab a table on their airy, shaded deck and order a Cheese Platter (a selection of 2 Milawa Cheeses served with season fruit, nuts and Milawa bread) and 2 glasses of house wine, for just $30.

Great Alpine Produce & Trading is a friendly café & provedore situated just opposite the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail in Porepunkah. Order a Large Tasting Plate – the menu changes daily but options may include local smoked meats or fish, cheeses, olives, breads, dips, and fresh vegetables. Then receive 2 free glasses of the wine of the day to enjoy with your platter.

Or, if you’re more in the mood for a lazy picnic, see our picnic options with Bright provedores The Loaded Basket, Food Wine Friends or Milawa’s Snow Road Produce.

Our local provedores, delis and foodstores are great places to snap up some amazing local produce: Great Alpine Produce & Trading, The Loaded Basket, Food Wine Friends and Snow Road Produce all have shelves just groaning with a wide variety of food & drink most produced within 100km – or 1 hour’s drive of their location.

And, for a whole package built around the North East’s food & wine experience, go no further than the Gourmet Getaway at The Statesman Motor Inn. Stay three nights in a deluxe room, with country-style cooked breakfast each day, and receive a complimentary bottle of Rutherglen wine on arrival. Then be whisked away on a 3-hour chauffeur-driven winery tour in a classic Mercedes – you choose the vineyards – and enjoy a two-course gourmet lunch with glass of wine at the Pickled Sisters Café, the noted café at Cofield Wines. Located in the centre of Corowa just minutes from the mighty Murray River and the Rutherglen wine region, the Statesman Motor Inn is a family-run country motel with spacious rooms set around the extensive pool & garden area.

Fine print: Please check the exclusions & conditions of each offer. All offers are subject to availability and some may require advance booking.

Dinner in Bright, Victoria.