The steel-and-glass parabola studded with barrel-shaped booths, the busy helipad and art-strewn grounds mark Levantine Hill as Yarra Valley’s most aspirational vineyard restaurant. Owners Colleen and Elias Jreissati engaged chef Teage Ezard to steer the kitchen, which divides its energies between truffled mac ‘n’ cheese croquettes and slow-cooked lamb in the all-day diner, and dégustations in the restaurant with valley views. Expect precision technique and sensory surprise in the latter, perhaps Ora King salmon served under a glass dome with applewood smoke, or a slow-cooked egg and Spätzle noodles beneath an emulsion of “cheese on toast”. The haute technique occasionally misses the mark: flavourless pork scratchings on a small slab of Western Plains pork look like crumpled plastic tubes. The wine selection is defiantly elitist, listing only house labels benchmarked against pricey premier crus from Burgundy and Bordeaux. Pack the platinum card.
This review was made independently for the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide. The guide’s reviewers visit unannounced and pay their way.
Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide
Wine: ★
Gourmet Traveller’s star-ratings, which range from zero to three stars, reflect reviewers’ first-hand experiences. The best-rated restaurants form our national Top 100. Our wine ratings, from zero to three stars, are made by wine editor Max Allen on the strength of the quality of the restaurant’s wine list. View our rating key here.
