Careful use of native ingredients combined with more traditional fare has won Port Fairy’s The Stag restaurant a coveted chef’s hat in the The Age Good Food Guide 2016.
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Local couple Ryan and Kirstyn Sessions took over the restaurant in April and Mrs Sessions, who runs front of house, said they could not be happier.
“We are so excited to have been recognised in this way so soon after opening,” she said. “I get a lot of feedback from diners about their experience, and so far this feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
“But to be formally recognised in this way by some of the most respected food critics in Australia really is the icing on the cake.”
Mr Sessions already made his mark on the local fine dining scene at Port Fairy’s Merrijig Inn when it won Regional Restaurant of the Year in 2010 and was awarded two chef’s hats for three consecutive years.
“We are a small team, but are all really passionate about what we do,” Mr Sessions said of the kitchen at The Stag.
“We like to think that we have created a unique brand of modern Australian dining, using native ingredients sourced from all over the country and combining them with more traditional produce to create food with a strong sense of place.”
Mr Sessions said he was inspired by the region’s fresh produce and liked ingredients to speak for themselves.
“I constantly ask myself, ‘is what I am about to do going to improve the flavour or texture?’
“If the answer is no, I don’t do it,” he said.
Awards were announced at a gala event in Melbourne. The well-respected guide uses a 0-20 rating scale with a minimum score of 15-20 required to earn just one chef’s hat.
Birregurra’s Brae was the only regional restaurant to claim three chef hats with chef Dan Hunter, formerly of Dunkeld’s Royal Mail, picking up the chef of the year honour.
The Good Food Guide panel described Mr Hunter as having a “fierce focus on technique, precision and flavour”. “Dan Hunter's food – botanical, textural and generally sensational – has put the tiny township of Birregurra on the map.”
Chef Matt Dempsey, who grew up in Penshurst, claimed two hats for his Inverleigh restaurant Gladioli. Dunkeld’s celebrated Royal Mail Hotel also picked up two hats.
