No wonder people are queueing to get into Embla. Should you snag a seat at this “small but friendly wine bar in the middle of town”, and a stool at the kitchen bar is your best spot, surrender to the expertise of staffers. They know how to navigate Embla’s deeply eclectic drinks list and will get a Yarra Ranges vermouth or pulpy natural wine in your hand before you can tear into the kitchen’s incomparable country loaf.

Flame and coal cooking is the go here, so don’t miss those heat-blistered prawns coming out of the woodfired oven, all lathered in garlic. Or the amazing octopus. Chef Dave Verhuel sends ’em out, firm white flesh face up on borlotti beans. Then there’s beef cheek, parcelled up in leaves of green cabbage, and half a roasted chook bursting with funky juices.

Upstairs at the newly opened Lesa, it’s a four-to-six course choose your own adventure of no-sharing fare that features chicken porridge dusted with black chestnut curls, raw flounder crowned with hazelnuts and glorious korobuta pork, pink and tender, and teamed with crisp fried kale. An extensive cellar of co-owner Christian McCabe’s interesting wines from around the world rounds out this quieter yin to Embla’s bustling yang.

Whether you make a booking at Lesa or drop into Embla, it’s a one-two CBD act from class operators that’s hard to beat. Raise a glass.

Must-eat dish: Octopus, borlotti beans, turnip, walnut