In the 1850s, the discovery of gold provoked a rush to be rich in Beechworth.

In 2017, there’s a rush to be well fed in this enchanted corner of Victoria’s north east. And many of the tourists who swell Beechworth’s streets, day and night, make a beeline for Provenance.

Michael Ryan’s fine restaurant, housed in a heritage Bank of Australasia building that was built at the height of the gold rush, beckons them with the promise of memorable Japanese-accented food, wines heavily drawn from the region, and solicitous service.

A log fire blazed on our visit, warming a rather austere dining room, and snacky starters, think grilled squid with kewpie mayo, and roasted lap cheong with pickled cucumber, paved the way for Nipponesque entrees fashioned from prime alpine ingredients. The mix included smoked kangaroo tartare with Japanese fish sauce, fried quail in a kimchi puree, and local pumpkin cooked in hazelnut oil.

Ryan’s affinity for vegetables shines in the vegetarian degustation, but you wouldn’t want to miss his Murray cod with fins of crisp skin, or pork jowl steeped in a soy milk and ginger sauce. Only a side of overcooked roasted broccoli marred our serve.

Sake can carry you through to dessert – anyone for bergamot flan with a puffed rice and genmaicha sorbet? – but you’re in Beechworth, remember. Not Japan. Surely that calls for a ‘sticky’.

Must eat dish: Vegetarian degustation
Instagram: @theprovenance