All this talk of the death of fine dining obviously hasn’t reached the Mornington Peninsula. Over the past six months, every time I’ve thought to lunch at 10 Minutes by Tractor I’ve been gazumped by a fully-booked dining room. You might expect that in January at the height of peak season – it is, after all, one of the region’s more esteemed dining rooms, and Stuart Bell one of its more accomplished chefs – but in cold July? (For the record, weekends seem to fill up about a month out.)

But while that high-end dining room takes the limelight, accolades and occasion diners, the same team quietly opened a lovely French bistro just down the road at the start of the year, where a table is slightly easier to come by.

But perhaps not for long, as Petit Tracteur paints a wonderful picture of bucolic bistro classics – terrine and duck, entrecote and nicoise and crème caramel – that are executed in style that feels very now. And the word is getting out.

Beetroot cured salmon, served with a rainbow of baby beets and sharp gribiche, is a dish as pretty as it is elegant, while hunks of smoky hock amp up a velvety lentil veloute that’s a winter-weather warmer. That terrine is worth a visit alone – two hefty slices that are reassuringly rustic and dense with meat served with a sticky-savoury pear and fennel relish.

But so, too, is the tarte tatin that our authentically-accented waiter assured us is “the best dessert on the peninsula!”

He could be right: the cinnamon-licked caramel with a subtle bitter bite serves its dual masters of thick chunks of pink lady apples and buttery, flaky pastry well. A thick quenelle of crème fraiche is the only adornment and completes a scene just as lovely as the vines outside the atrium dining room windows.

Proteins are treated well, whether entrecote with excellent hand-cut chips and a tarragon-rich béarnaise, crunchy crisp-skinned duck served with a sticky orange sauce, or beef cheek nugget in a pool of a red wine sauce of decadent depth.

Bread hot from the oven highlights thoughtfulness from the kitchen, while the glorious chardonnay and pinot-focused list has Australian and international interest at all levels – including the great estate wines – up to Montrachet for a grand.

Or just drop into the bar for a glass of rosé and a bowl of moules marinere, and life will seem equally sweet.

Make a booking for 10 Minutes by Tractor, by all means (I hear it’s great), but be sure to make a beeline for its bistro-chic sibling as well.