It was after 3.30pm when the 12th (or was it the 13th?) dish landed on our table at Brae: a signature dessert listed as “parsnip and apple’’.

That brief description did little to prepare us for a funnel of fried parsnip skin housing a creamy apple-parsnip mousse. Then again, Brae’s gifted owner-chef Dan Hunter is always springing surprises.

His country-style dining room in the green hills of Birregurra, 40 minutes west of Geelong, offers a $190 (per person) menu that changes with what’s in season locally and growing in Brae’s own organic fruit and vegetable garden.

So each time you pay a visit (a three to four hour commitment), something new and ingenious is sure to come your way. An iced oyster to start, then puffed beef tendon wafers and calamari with fermented celeriac or raw wallaby with lemon myrtle or wood-roasted duck with quandong.

Or not. Hunter — who honed his skills in boundary-pushing European restaurants — calls Brae’s degustation a “personal offering’’ and restaurant manager Simon Freeman seamlessly imparts this vision to diners.

The front of house team — one of Victoria’s best — can also help you navigate the cellar here (matched wines $125), which goes long and deep on artisan growers.

Staying overnight in one of Brae’s six luxury cabins makes for an even richer, rounded experience. If you’re lucky, Hunter himself might appear on your doorstep delivering house-baked croissants.

Must eat dish: parsnip and apple