If Mother Nature had a pantry, it would be the Lake House.

For 33 years, this Daylesford restaurant and getaway – under the expert guiding hand of founder and ‘culinary director’ Alla Wolf-Tasker – has been nurturing specialist provedores in central Victoria and showcasing their bounty on menus that seem almost hardwired to the seasons.

A visit to Lake House in early Spring saw head chef David Green sending out a charred onion broth heady with truffle comte; dry-aged duck nesting with beetroot, smoked potato and preserved elderberry; and peak condition vegetables – chestnuts, pumpkin, kale, artichokes – tucked into butter pastry with goat curd fondue.

Green has a special affinity for fish, netting Murray cod, trout, smoked eel and freshwater crustaceans for a delicate entrée, and elevating pearl-white black kingfish (cobia) with an Asian-scented veal broth and a latticed cod cracker. Stunning.

Then there’s ‘The Apple’ for dessert, a little marvel where a sphere of eggshell fine white chocolate on Granny Smith granita hides jellied treats inside.

The service is seamless, while the cellar is one of rare depth and complexity.

Some visitors favour Lake House to savour the view, but this dining room twinkles after sundown, toasty light bouncing off gleaming surfaces and jazz tinkling in the background like water.

Must eat dish: Black kingfish, celeriac, cod cracker
Instagram: @lakehousedaylesford