Gladioli put Inverleigh on the map.

This country town beyond Geelong is still a wayside stop on the way to the Western District but the charming restaurant Matt and Kate Dempsey opened in its main street five years ago has become a destination diner. And for good reason.

Whether you opt for five ($90 per person) or eight ($120) courses, Gladioli delivers on every front. Just look at the biodynamic bread that lands instantly with cultured butter. Then the baby artichoke stems, ready for dipping in macadamia cream.

The menu descriptors — “prawn, wild broccoli, lemonade”, “potato, eel, brown onion” — barely hint at what’s to come. Turns out broccoli binds each prawn in a sort of green net while potato, wrapped in a nasturtium leaf, gains added savouriness from an onion broth. Not to mention layers of toasted quinoa crunch. Then there’s glazed duck, acquiring a pleasingly sour edge from native cranberries (muntries).

Delve into Gladioli’s cellar (Geelong pinots are especially well represented) and you’re sure to find a wine to suit. Or let one of Dempsey’s well-informed wait staff organise a set course wine match.

“Quince, chocolate, almond” supplies a fine sweet finish, best followed by Assam tea and teeny candied waffles. In Inverleigh. Who would have thought?

Must eat dish: duck, turnip, muntries