Those in the know have long known that just an hour out of Melbourne the state’s best duck a l’orange is found. 

At Kyneton’s Midnight Starling you’ll find Steve Rogers putting his experience gained in top Parisian kitchens to terrific use across a menu that comes in both a la carte and degustation form, both in the wood-panelled dining room and in the moody wine cellar below. 

You might start with a spectacular terrine teaming pigeon and pork, or unapologetically textural escargot with a burnt butter sauce, or, indeed, a perfect piece of red mullet served with a bouillabaisse bisque of sunshiny depth.

Thankfully there’s plenty of crusty baguette, hot from the oven, to slather in good salty butter, for those sauces are wipe-the-plate good, while a flaky buttery pithivier of mushrooms on the creamiest celerariac mash is a winter wonder.

With a terrific wine list that teams Gallic classics with local heroes, Midnight Starling nails the French bistro brief with untold class, delivering a lesson in fantastically enjoyable food that never fails to bring a smile.

And that duck? Perfectly treated blushing breast and fall-from-the-bone leg meat surrounded by a deeply seductive come-hither sauce, it’s always worth the drive.

 Must Eat Dish: Duck a l’orange