Dining

On top of Australia’s firmly built reputation for clean, green and safe beef, we are now benefiting from Asia’s new desire for red meat. With regional managers based throughout Asia, Meat...

The Hunter Valley has evolved into a gourmet destination, with its famous drops being paired with local produce, such as olives, cheeses and sourdough, in a range of restaurants and eateries that...

When Holger Ostersen saw some of his cousin’s rhubarb crop classed as seconds and discarded as compost, he thought there had to be a better use for the edible crimson stalks. “Stalks...

Dressed-up travellers on Great Southern Rail’s (GSR) Southern Spirit are gathering in the Outback Lounge for pre-dinner drinks. They know they’re about to experience dinner at a table set...

When chef Adam Pizzini moved his restaurant last year from the King Valley in north-east Victoria to Wangaratta, 50 kilometres north-west, little could he have guessed how warmly he’d be...

 On the low hilltops at Montumana in north-western Tasmania, the world’s cleanest air is hurrying through the long grass, smoothing it like velvet. Over the backs of his grazing cattle,...

  It’s a crisp autumn day at Orange, in central New South Wales, and Borry Gartrell has just unloaded the last of his pinot noir grapes. “We had a frost here this morning and had...

It 8am on a Friday at Hook and Spoon in Benalla, in north-eastern Victoria, and there are six stockpots on the go and an oven full of delicious chunky beef pies. Owner/cook Sandy Leatham has...

Jock and Mina Douglas of the Roma district, 479 kilometres west of Brisbane, have taken the Australian desert lime and transformed the native fruit into an international family business. Hailing...

A native of Greece and Asia Minor, saffron has been revered since ancient times. It’s the dye that turns monks’ robes yellow, the ancient Chinese medicine that is used to treat everything...

Chestnut farmer David McIntyre is a mover and shaker. Not only does he rarely stand still, but during harvest he spends most of his time shaking the trees in his orchard. A keen cyclist (he rides...

Generous platters of antipasti, roasted free-range pork, glazed ham, deep-dish pies and big bowls of salad will be on Nick Middleton’s table this Christmas. Like most Australians, the chef from...

The recently renovated and re-opened Blaxland’s Inn, on the road to Pokolbin in the New South Wales Hunter Valley, has a clean, homely feel to it that is at once inviting and comforting....

As the late afternoon sun fades on a crisp winter’s day, banter and laughter fill the open-air restaurant. Drums of fire warm the area and like a campfire get-together, some cattlemen stand...

Duncan Thomson has the Midas touch. Like the fabled king, he has turned something worthless – underground saline water near Mildura, Vic – into something worthwhile: flavourful pink...

Mandalong Lamb began with a drought and almost ended with the recent drought but, with that curious brand of optimism that keeps farmers going through hail, flood, fire and drought, Mark Taylor says,...

It's a frosty winter Tuesday morning in the Victorian border town of Wodonga and butcher Robert Formichi is so cold he can barely move his lips to talk. He’s just received a delivery of 18...

By David O’Dea’s own admission, a degree in agriculture with postgraduate qualifications in veterinary anatomy are “about as useful as tits on a bull” when you’re...

Proud Port Augusta local Aaron Morgan motors his boat into the sheltered, shallow waters of Spencer Gulf and kills the engine. There's a weird absence of noise – not even the sound of water...

It’s vintage time at Bloodwood Winery in Orange, central NSW, and there’s a wonderfully yeasty smell in the air.  Winemaker and owner Stephen Doyle has just wandered inside after...

Kaye Wetherall is a remarkable woman who, at 77 years of age, capably runs a tea-house and cold-pressed mustard seed oil company. With her clipped British accent and the magnificent wooden carvings...

Stepping into Cliffy's Emporium is like stepping into a grown-up's version of an old-fashioned lolly shop. Long wooden counters run the length of the store, piled high with jars, bottles and crates...

I’ve looked at it from every angle and I just adore the building,” says Paddy Barbour of Fleurtys Café, which he owns with husband and wife team Chris Read and Sue Small. Paddy...

It’s green in West Gippsland. More than a metre of rainfall a year sees to that. The soils are varied and fertile too, so it’s not surprising that this area of Victoria is one of the most...

There’s not a lamington or vanilla slice to be seen. As for sliced white bread or jam rolls, you can forget about it – the Quinty Cake and Bakehouse is not your traditional Aussie...

On November 8, 2005, the New South Wales town of Molong was hit by the worst floods on record, and Kris and Greg Robbins’s café, Schnogy’s, was under half a metre of water. With...

There’s quite a pedigree to apple cider. The first champagnes were made from cider, it was once the drink of English aristocrats, and it was imbibed as a health food by American presidents. A...

Deniliquin may be better known for its world record ute muster than its musical and culinary delights, but restaurateurs Chris Bodey and Brett Allitt would like to put paid to that. They have created...