Mt Beauty Part III
Thursday, July 10th, 2008Being Active in Australia
By: Phoenix Arrien
All this activity creates an appetite and it’s time to immerse myself in the good life and indulge in the local specialities. Mt Beauty is part of the great north-eastern Victorian expanse of fertile ground called the Kiewa Valley and the local producers are churning out exceptionally good food and wine, beckoning visitors with delicious choices.
Firstly, drinks at the iconic Bogong Hotel where we swapped stories with other adventurers, much like polar explorers at an Antarctic Base, while the fire roars in the old fireplace and mists descend into the valley.
Next door is Roi’s Diner, a misleading title for an exceptional restaurant we had not expected to find ‘out in the sticks’. Roi is a sumptuously skilled and talented chef who, after a heart attack in the big smoke, came out to the slow tranquillity of Mt Beauty, bringing his 35 years of culinary skill with him.
Roi holds classes at the local TAFE teaching, “…old farmers who used to live on baked beans. They now all have pasta machines.” From the melt-in-the-mouth smoked salmon and fresh polenta bread entrée to the Berry and Cointreau ice cream dessert, I can understand those farmers.
In a contented celebratory mood we continue our gourmet trail the next day at the Annapurna Estate with a locally produced antipasto platter for morning tea washed down by a light, white Pinot Gris. There is enough room for lunch further down the road at the Ceccanti Winery where a picturesque lunch under shady trees takes the concept of succulent mustard chicken and real chocolate pie to new heights of human appreciation.
Passionate Italians who live and breathe their food and wine in beautiful environments run both estates. I find out later that Annapurna means the ‘The Goddess of Bountiful Harvest and Fertility’ Let me add the Goddess of Good Times. Bellissimo!
More information:
Kiewa View Cottage: info@kiewaview.com www.kiewaview.com
Bogong Horseback Adventures: (03) 5754 4849 www.bogonghorse.com.au
Gliding Club: (03) 5754 1719 www.visitmtbeauty.com.au/gliding
Bogong Hotel (03) 5754 4482 bogonghotel@bigpond.com
Roi’s Diner Ph 03 5754 4495 www.roisdiner.com.au
Ceccanti Wines (03) 5754 5236 www.ceccanti.com.au/home/index.htm
Annapurna Estate (03) 5754 4517 www.annapurnawines.com.au
