Wild Dog Winery

The name throws you off the scent; Wild Dog is actually the most polished restaurant in the district. In rolling hills just south of Warragul, the spacious pavilion with expansive, timber decks is graced with idyllic views over gum-fringed pastures. The menu showcases Ed McDowell's palette of soils, foams, gels and other textural effects. While an entree like kingfish sashimi with freshly grated wasabi is necessarily spare in its presentation, the mushroom salad is a complex arrangement of shiitake caps, set porcini consomme and gently boiled eggs drizzled with truffle oil. Mains adopt a slightly more traditional stance such as lamb loin on nutty green lentils with sweet-pea mash, and poussin ballotine stuffed with ham hock and pistachios. Desserts bring experimentation back to centre stage with a curious but compelling plate of lurid licorice and pineapple jellies and curds of varying intensities and sweetness. Attentive black-clad waitstaff befit the refined sensibility; this is one dog with plenty of tricks.