Out of Town Luncheon - New Restaurant (excellent reviews)

One of the favourite events of the year is our Sunday country lunch, and during the last few years we’ve enjoyed some of the best country restaurants that Victoria has to offer, including Loam and the Tea Rooms of Yarck. This year we’re heading to Inverleigh, a modest dot on the map just past Geelong, to visit Gladioli, one of the hottest tickets in country dining in Victoria.

Chef Matt Dempsey, a local of Western Victoria, put the Geelong area on notice of his talents several years ago at Petteval, which at the time produced some stunning and notable food and was voted Best Winery Restaurant in Australia in 2009. Following the course of many young Australian chefs, Matthew then headed north and completed stages at both the Fat Duck & The Ledbury in the UK, and also represented Australia in the 2010 San Pellegrino World Cooking Cup in Venice.

So what does a young man do next? You open your own restaurant of course, and in early 2012 Mathew took the plunge and opened Gladioli, and there’s been no looking back. The Age Good Food Guide’s 2013 ‘Best New Regional Restaurant’ has almost immediately garnered both critical & diner support, and seems to attract repeat visits from far and wide, with diners praising the subtle, seasonal & original food.

This is refined modern cooking that hits the sorts of highs usually reserved for big city fine diners, which also happens to be served in the kind of relaxed & casual atmosphere befitting a long, lazy Sunday lunch. Organisers Sean Rogan and I will match some delicious wines from our cellar and beyond, so we hope you can join us on May 19th as we while away an Autumn Sunday afternoon.

Please view the menu here.