Don’t let the pastoral scenes fool you; this Hunter Valley restaurant is as slick as they come. Surrounded by vine-covered hills, the building is an impressive structure where the soaring glass ceiling lets in a slice of blue sky. The smartly-dressed front-of-house rises to meet the standard set by the setting and the food, bringing this regional restaurant right up to world-class.

The farm-to-fork menu, created by owner/chef Troy Rhoades-Brown, takes the region’s bounteous produce and elevates it to a whole new plane. A roulade of Little Hill Farm chicken is served alongside its feed, a charred sweet corn polenta strewn with puffed rice and micro herbs. Meanwhile, a tranche of trout is hedged by a forest of florets, the vibrant stalks sprouting from a mound of creamed cauliflower. Apple pie, the most country of desserts, is reborn as an upper crust creation. Poached red gala apples make a soft cradle for buttery miso custard, brioche crumbs and shaved macadamias, finished with a scattered crust of wattle seed.