42 Melba Highway, Yering, Victoria, Australia.
+61 3 9237 2233.
The historic property has been beautifully restored and transformed into a luxurious country house hotel, with two restaurants. Eleonore’s, named after the wife of early owner Paul de Castella, is formal and handsomely furnished, overlooking Yarra Valley hills. Mathew Macartney’s cooking is an assured blend of classic techniques and modern flavours – fillets of red emperor served with a garlic brûlée and a black bean vinaigrette, for example, or rare-roasted venison with sautéed black cabbage and celeriac puree. The degustation menus (vegetarian an option) are terrific. In Sweetwater Café (named for one of the first grape varieties planted in the vineyard in the 1800s), the food is modern bistro – braised rabbit and fruit pastilla, reassuringly good caesar salad, slow-cooked chicken with polenta. A good and manageable selection of Yarra Valley wines.
Open: dinner daily, lunch Sun (Eleonore’s); breakfast/lunch daily (Sweetwater Café). Licensed. Mains $36-$39 (Eleonore’s); $24-$30 (Sweetwater Café).
WebsiteSource:
Qantas The Australian Way May 2008
Updated: August 2008
The glamorous country house hotel began life as the de Castella homestead. Its rooms are handsomely furnished, and its historically significant gardens include a rare Chilean wine palm planted by the Victorian government botanist in the 1860s. Eleonore’s is the formal dining room for dinners and weekend lunch, Sweetwater Cafe does breakfasts and lunch.
Source:
Qantas The Australian Way November 2009