Public Inn

Filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock liked to slip into his thrillers what he called a MacGuffin: something quirky or unexpected. Here the MacGuffin is an inverted pyramid of barrels protruding from a stone wall. Each has a tap from which wines of the region can be dispensed in old-fashioned glass-stoppered medicine bottles. Hospitality virtuoso Hayden Winch, who created the Dispensary Enoteca in a Bendigo laneway with pharmaceutical history, has now has taken Castlemaine's Criterion Hotel from goldrush origins to vibrant bistro and bar. The restaurant-style food, drawn from top-notch regional ingredients, is as contemporary-chic as the whole creative concept. Expect the likes of Tuki trout ballotine with oyster puree, Spa venison on poached rhubarb and wagyu rump cooked sous-vide with an oxtail and cognac consomme. A vegetarian menu offers dishes just as imaginatively composed. And if your server extols the delights of a chocolate brioche and butter pudding with fig ice-cream, they're not kidding.