Up a spiral staircase, on the top floor of an 1858 building that was once the
Daylesford grocer, there’s now a cosy dining room lined with artwork, arranged salon-style, on mustard-coloured walls.
asserted
that → ’ → walls
Stepping up the tight whorl is like spinning yourself into a fantasy: all your dining dreams are about to come true.
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dreams → step → fantasy
There’s the mood, attentive but casual and oh-so-warm, as though any worries you have can be allayed by simply shrugging off a coat.
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worries → ’ → coat
Where’s your thirst leaning?
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thirst → lean → ?
It’s all sourced locally, from growers known by name.
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It → source → name
You can engage with this as much as you like: there’s no brittle culinary ego hovering and demanding you fall into silence with every lovely bite.
asserted
you → engage → bite
Your informed waiter knows about the saucisson (perhaps crafted from Brooklands pork, a free-range farm in nearby Blampied) or the polenta (from corn harvested by Tumpinyeri Growers over yonder, milled on-site by co-head chefs Oliver Edwards and Bree Smith).
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waiter → know → Edwards
But you can just keep sipping the wine (maybe the grenache from Dilworth and Allain, who have a cellar door around the corner) and sink into a reverie.
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who → keep → reverie
The menu changes weekly.
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menu → change → ?
That polenta might be the smooshy base for octopus
braised in red wine, or pork cooked in sage and milk, the latter from Tess Sellar, who runs a dairy herd of just 10 cows.
uncertain
who → braise → cows
It’s rustic stuff, made for eating, not Instagram.
asserted
It → ’ → Instagram
Even so, the salad gleams in its dressing, every leaf just so, and the roasted flathead flakes easily, as though a card sharp is dealing a royal flush, and the sweet cream squeezes lusciously from a crisp-crackled choux puff.
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cream → gleam → puff
Merenda turns five this month.
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Merenda → turn → ?
In 2020, they decided central Victoria was something of an antipodean Provence and built a life there, followed by a wine bar in Daylesford’s divey old pizza shop.
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Victoria → decide → shop
The first iteration of Merenda was beautiful and fun, though a little clunky, because there was no way to separate boisterous drinkers from special-occasion diners.
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iteration → be → diners
The current space, inhabited a year ago, means diners are ensconced up those spiral stairs, while drop-ins are downstairs at the bar, where the food
is as good, just a little simpler.
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ins → inhabit → bar
Maybe there’s duck: the grilled breast appears in the bistro with lentils and braised greens, while the legs are confited for the bar.
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legs → ’ → bar
Everyone wins.
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Everyone → win → ?
There are 16 seats downstairs, 18 upstairs, and a handful on the pavement, which is slightly fewer than the old place.
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which → be → place
Despite the shrinkage, Andy tells me the new iteration is actually more profitable.
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iteration → tell → me
The set menu means a certain spend is assured, and wastage is reduced.
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wastage → mean → ?
In a time when we are losing indie restaurants to a cost crunch and the ongoing march of groups, there’s pleasure in supporting an enterprise with a community-first ethos, especially when being here feels wonderful, and everything is so very delicious.
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everything → lose → ethos
Every bottle has a story and is there for a reason.
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bottle → have → reason
Cost: $65/$120 (two-/four-course set menu) per person, excluding drinks
This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine.
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review → exclude → magazine
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently.
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reviews → book → ?
A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
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restaurant → pay → Guide
The Aporia
