Five of the best Victorian lunch spots for a day trip

Premier Daniel Andrews might have offended South Australia last week, claiming nobody would want to go there, but he's not wrong about the bounty that awaits in regional Victoria for Melburnians dying to hit the road.

The summer bushfires took a devastating toll on regional businesses, with many recording 75-90 per cent drops in trade over their vital January holiday period. The coronavirus shutdown which followed spelled further disaster. But things may be looking up.

A spokesperson from Visit Victoria said the long weekend showed just how keen people are to get on the road, with some restaurants in the Daylesford and Macedon area showing waiting lists through to the end of June.

This is good news. Tourism Research Australia data for the year ending December 2019 showed that domestic tourism was worth $23.7 billion to Victoria. Of that, the intrastate (Victorians travelling within Victoria) market was worth $9 billion in overnight trips and $6.4 billion for day trips.

In fact, support for the regions is proving so strong, you'd best plan and book in now. Here are five destinations worth charting a course for, and some jewels to visit along the way.

Osteria Tedesca, Red Hill

Chef Brigitte Hafner has dazzled Melbourne for decades with her ability to make the comforting and familiar transcendent. Just the right herb, or slip of acid makes vegetable dishes burst and her pastas, tarts and cakes are things of legend. Her Red Hill restaurant features hand hewn doors, sweeping views and a set-menu that's conceived organically each day and cooked on an open hearth. A cellar of Australian and international greats, curated by wine gun James Broadway, of Gertrude Street Enoteca, might convince you to book the dazzling antique-filled farmhouse on site rather than drive. Osteria Tedesca 1175 Mornington-Flinders Road, Red Hill

For a beer Red Hill Brewery, 88 Shoreham Road, Red Hill South. For a pie Johnny Ripe, 284 Main Creek Road, Main Ridge.

Beppe Kitchen and Bar, Daylesford

Daylesford has done well for itself in these trying times. Seconds before lockdown they scored this sleek marble-lined trattoria from the team behind local favourite Cliffy's Emporium, which kept locals in glorious golden schnitzels, deep, dark ragu tangled with fresh pasta and wood-charred margherita pizzas in their hour of need. Now it has opened for the second time, the team have hit the ground running. Make sure you set out with an empty boot so you can load up on sourdough and pastries from the new Dairy Flat Farm (sold at Wombat Hill House), check out the storybook-gorgeous takeaway set up at Cliffy's Emporium, and Jen Latta's all new Winespeake Deli and Bar. Beppe Kitchen and Bar, 32 Raglan Street, Daylesford

For cheese and rare wines Winespeake Deli and Bar, 4/6 Vincent Street, Daylesford, opens June 26. For coffee and pastries and local produce Wombat Hill House, Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens, Daylesford.

Brae, Birregurra

If you have never experienced chef Dan Hunter's three-hat Birregurra restaurant, Victoria's internationally acclaimed powerhouse, now is the time to blow it all. Hunter is reopening at full strength, not compromising on the $300-a-head degustation that defines what sustainable, Australian fine dining can be. Ceramics are custom, beers are bespoke, every bite takes days to craft, but more impressive, most produce, from rare apples and gourds to the wheat for the restaurant's show-stopping bread is grown for the menu. You won't need dinner. Instead, stay in Brae's luxurious Six Degrees-designed rooms featuring their own wine cellar and record collection. 4285 Cape Otway Road, Birregurra.

For coffee Otway Artisan, 77 Main Street, Birregurra. For dinner, wines and smallgoods Yield, 43 Main Street, Birregurra.

Pt Leo Estate, Merricks

Chef Phil Wood's lunch is attention-grabbing, whether he's serving you oysters shrouded in a champagne foam and grilled cheese (a dazzling reboot of mornay), bringing an unexpected jolt to fresh calamari with hints of green chilli and kaffir lime or blowing your hair back with a very silly and deadly serious play on "fairy bread", but the surroundings are the big sell. After lockdown, sitting in that glass-lined dining room with an eyeful of Western Port Bay and the Gandel family's sculpture collection tastes like freedom.
Pt Leo Estate 3649 Frankston - Flinders Road, Merricks.

For small batch rum JimmyRum Distillery, 6 Brasser Avenue, Dromana. For wines and smallgoods Merricks General Wine Store, 3460 Frankston-Flinders Road, Merricks.

It's a proper country pub with all the perks of a team who have done time at Vue de Monde and run the excellent Recreation Bistro in Fitzroy North. This translates to a destination diner with a proper schnitzel of parma with lacy battered chips if that's your speed, or a smoked trout salad with premium vegetables sourced from the pretty district and a bottle of something that will knock your socks off. Best of all, when Puffing Billy fires up again, there is a tiny tin shed station at the bottom of the garden, which can be booked as a stop, or else, it's a pleasant walk from its end destination. Paradise Valley Hotel, 249 Belgrave-Gembrook Road, Clematis.

For dinner The Independent,4 Gembrook Road, Gembrook.