Greasy Zoe’s gives new meaning to the words: tiny but mighty. The eight-seater restaurant run by Zoe Birch and her partner Lachlan Gardner opened in 2017 in Hurstbridge with a mind to leave the commonplace but excessive waste of the restaurant industry behind. The two are also the only employees in the restaurant, which is reminiscent of a cottage you’d find in a fairytale. House-made preserves, pickles, ferments and dehydrations double as ingredients as well as decor, and almost everything on your plate comes from within 50 kilometres of the restaurant. 3/850 Heidelberg-Kinglake Rd, Hurstbridge; https://greasyzoes.com.au/.

Farm fresh produce and a cellar full of some of Victoria’s finest wines set the bar for chef Brigitte Hafner’s homely 30-seat Red Hill restaurant Tedesca Osteria. With wine by James Broadway flowing, the restaurant makes for the perfect long lunch spot when you’ve hit the road for a long weekend. A fixed menu dining experience is based on the restaurant’s own biodynamic farm produce with a kitchen built around a wood fired oven and grill for maximum country excellence. 1175 Mornington-Flinders Rd, Red Hill; tedesca.com.au.

10,000 shimmering light bulbs hover over head tables at Doot Doot Doot, mimicking a cask of wine mid-ferment. One of the newer additions to Willow Creek Vineyard, the wildly impactful restaurant highlights art as much as it does a cross-continental exploration of Asian flavours. Very, very local wines pair with perfect cubes of grilled wagyu, or delicately steamed lobster as part of the restaurant’s tasting menu, or with mid-week two course dinners if you’re in a rush. Jackalope Hotel, 166 Balnarring Rd, Merricks North; dootdootdoot.com.au.

For many, the new face of luxury is the winery fine-diner. Pair the rolling hills and manicured rows of grapevines with opulent food, (very) local wine, and few experiences compare. The winery restaurant incites the feeling that time is standing still, and nothing whispers luxe like unwinding over a long lunch. It is this suspension of reality that the team at Yarra Valley winery, Helen and Joey Estate, strive for – a goal they’ve set with the opening of Re’em, a brand new experimental restaurant and 16 room accommodations. 12-14 Spring Lane, Gruyere; helenandjoeyestate.com.au.

You have two choices and both are exceptional. At Pt. Leo Estate on the Mornington Peninsula, you can decide between eating in the main dining room or at the fine-dining venue, Laura. The set menu at Laura is refined and exquisite (think coffee glazed pork, salad onions and local root vegetables) and slightly edges out the main dining room for its view over Laura, the mesmerising Jaume Plensa sculpture. 3649 Frankston – Flinders Rd, Merricks; ptleoestate.com.au.

Talk about destination dining. Snuggled under two of the Grampians most beautiful sandstone peaks is The Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld. The menu changes daily, inspired by what’s in season in the enormous kitchen garden, but popular dishes include snails, parsley root and garlic mustard, and eel and beetroot. 98 Parker Street Dunkeld; royalmail.com.au.

Away from the busy-ness of the Great Ocean Road is Brae, a restaurant set amongst rolling hills and a bucolic organic farm. Dan Hunter is the maestro chef creating inventive, contemporary and utterly delicious dishes with what he grows. Little wonder that Brae is routinely nominated as one of the country’s best restaurants. 4285 Cape Otway Rd, Birregurra; braerestaurant.com.

It’s tiny but it’s oh so good. We can’t get enough of Igni, Aaron Turner’s fire-licked restaurant in Geelong. The courses are set, so put your meal in the hands of the fire chief – you won’t be disappointed. Ryan Pl, Geelong; restaurantigni.com.

From the house-made silken tofu to the wallaby tartare with umeboshi, eating at Provenance is like taking a mini-gastronomy tour to Japan, albeit via Beechworth. To be fully immersed in the Orient, book a night’s accommodation in the Japanese-inspired rooms in the converted stables behind the restaurant. 86 Ford Street, Beechworth; theprovenance.com.au.

It seems that everything Annie Smithers touches turns to gold. It’s certainly the case in Trentham where Smithers brings the best of French provincial cuisine and Australian hospitality to her rustic restaurant, Du Fermier. It’s like dining at a good friend’s house – there’s no menu – with Smithers creating incredibly tasty and homely dishes with the best produce of the season. 42 High Street, Trentham; dufermier.com.au.

There’s little better than a table with a view, and Lake House in Daylesford certainly delivers. From the heirloom fruit and the goat’s milk cheese to the rare breed pork, nearly everything served here has been house-made or locally grown, making it a food story, not just a food destination. 4 King St, Daylesford, lakehouse.com.au.

There’s still gold in regional Victoria, but these days it comes in great dining options. Housed in the beautiful art deco Theatre Royal in Castlemaine is Lola, an intimate and beautifully conceived dining space with contemporary dishes such as freshly made gnocchi with six-hour pork and beef ragu, and mushroom, hazelnut and goat’s curd cannelloni. 30 Hargraves St, Castlemaine; bistrolola.com.au.