Liberté. Egalité. Fraternité. Kyneton?

Yes, for the best duck à l’orange this side of the Seine, head straight up the Calder to Midnight Starling. Here you’ll find Steven Rogers putting his experience gained in Parisian kitchens to good use across a menu that comes in both a la carte and degustation form.

Either way, there’s plenty of crusty baguette hot from the oven to slather in good salty butter. You’ll need it, because the sauces are wipe-the-plate good, such as a classically decadent sauce champagne that moats a perfect piece of hapuka topped with crisp whitebait, or a deeply delicious dark number, filled with cured hock depth, that surrounds the pork neck with caramelised apple.
Technique is on show in a finely hand-minced steak tartare perfectly seasoned with a splash of Tabasco heat, in delicately blushing crisp-skinned quail with gingerbread-spiced warmth, and in a parfait with proper liver bite.

A wine list that looks to Europe and central Victoria in equal measure, service that’s city sharp but country warm – with options to eat either in the bluestone cellar or in the charming wood-panelled dining room – and Midnight Starling might not be a revolution, but it’s certainly a revelation.

Must-eat dish: Duck à l’orange