From little things, big things grow.
When chef Simone Watts revealed Barragunda Dining on the Mornington Peninsula last month, Victorian gained a game- changing new destination restaurant built over five patient years.
Set on the 400ha Barragunda Estate, a Cape Schanck farm owned by the philanthropic Morris family, Barragunda Dining has weathered nearly years of delays and setbacks (not least among them a global pandemic), but experienced chef Watts has made full use of every moment. On the surface, the end result is very similar to Watts’ original pitch to the Morris clan – a 40-seat restaurant designed to share the farm’s riches, from the 800-tree orchard to the overflowing market gardens and free-roaming livestock.
But unplanned delays have allowed something more nuanced to develop. Covid speed bumps and planning roadblocks gave Watts, “more time to really look at not just what I wanted to do, which was open a restaurant, but what was going to be best for the environment and our surrounding community”. As a result, her vision changed dramatically, “but very slowly”.
First was the Barragunda Collective, an agricultural hub designed to support young farmers by providing affordable land to lease, as well as access to infrastructure, expert advice and distribution channels. “It’s been a really nice development piece in the process, seeing young farmers start to blossom,” Watts says. Now the restaurant is in operation, collective members can sell directly to Watts.
Related story: Cook with the seasons with Simone Watt’s recipes.
The second big focus was on regeneration, undoing the damage of “poorly colonially managed land,” Watts explains. “That regenerative part is not just about growing vegetables; it’s about growing the entire biodiversity here on the farm. We’re really starting to feel like we’re giving back.” Even the restaurant’s financial model is altruistic, with all profits donated to the charitable Morris Family Foundation to help support regenerative innovation in Australia’s food systems.
Farming has been its own learning curve for Watts, who swapped urban kitchens for regenerative agriculture. “As a chef, you’re coming from an adrenaline-fuelled world … always pushing to get things out or get the work done,” she says. “When you come into a farming scenario, with that mindset, you’re very quickly reminded that’s not the way that nature works … she is the boss.
She will do what she wants. And you’re there to nurture her, not try and control her.” That knowledge has been accelerated by proximity – Barragunda is not just Watts’ workplace, it’s also her home. “I live on site,” she says. “Yeah, I don’t leave the farm, it’s great … It’s a different way of life, to just coming here for work. It really is our whole world.” Watt’s partner Sam Humphries tends to the native nursery on site, elements of which appear in the dining room.
Everything on the Barragunda Dining menu is an ode to Watts’ new Mornington world, and a quiet expression of years of anticipation. “Honestly, every day feels like a dream,” she says. “I’ve been so fortunate to hit the ground running with an amazing team who have helped to bring the last five years of planning to life. “We’re working hard, but we hope we’re creating something special that is resonating with our diners, not just via the food on their plates, but on a deeper environmental level.”
Related story: The best places to eat, drink and stay on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
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