Autumn 2010
Dining
March saw a visit from Andoni Luis Aduriz and his assistants, Leire Etxaide and Javier Bergara of Mugaritz Restaurant, Spain as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. ‘The Origin of Things' celebrated the spirit of Mugaritz and gave guests a chance to explore the origins of the food that they would enjoy throughout the day.
A clear, sunny, autumn day was spent meandering through Dunkeld, exploring the Hotel's olive grove, vegetable gardens, hot house and orchard with Restaurant Manager, Clinton Trevisi, and Chef, Damien Neylon, as guides. Garden produce in various forms was sampled along the way as guests were given an insight into the workings of the kitchen gardens.
On return, sommelier, Jeremy Shiell, together with Viv Thompson of Best's Wines and John Thompson of Crawford River Winery lead guests through a tasting tour of the prized Royal Mail cellar.
Then the highlight of the event, a joint Mugaritz - Royal Mail tasting menu with many wonderful surprises and unexpected delights both on the plate and in the glass as each course was matched to some of the best Spanish and Australian wines. View the evening's menu here.
View photographer, Rohan Anderson's images of the event here.
Andoni's visit to Dunkeld prompted a visit to Tower Hill Nature Reserve where our Spanish guests, together with some Royal Mail Chefs, were introduced to a wide range of edible native plants. The visit to Tower Hill has inspired the use of our own supply of native mint and muntree berries as well as some coastal foraging for bower spinach and samphire, collected for a sea flavoured dish of pacific oyster, snow pea, grapefruit, marine essence. Salt bush is also found along the coast and is being used in a dish of organically grown lamb, raised on the same plant.
Autumn is the season of foraging for the Royal Mail kitchen team and this year has seen one of the most successful wild mushroom seasons ever. Wild pine mushrooms and slippery jacks have been prolific since the start of April and are of such high quality that they are being served both cooked and raw in dishes such as the omnivore menu's wild mushroom, calamari, hints of autumn and the vegetarian menu's mushrooms, eggplant in white miso, pinenut, chlorophyll.
Voting for the Gourmet Traveller 2010 Travel Awards is underway. The Hotel is proud to be amongst the four nominees for the category ‘Best Hotel/Resort Dining'. Place your vote and enter the draw to win a luxurious break at the exclusive Huka Lodge in New Zealand. Best of luck!