Sophisticated dining at the home of an iconic winery.
In a spacious, light-filled setting looking out over a horizon of karri forest, and with several of the winery’s highly sought museum releases by the glass, Leeuwin Estate has a special-occasion feeling. Chef Dan Gedge’s menu takes that seriously, but doesn’t let the food window-dress, combining local produce and hints of native ingredients with Asian and European influences in a complex, maximal dining experience.
Dessert pairs Jerusalem artichoke ice-cream with a spectacular white mist, which dissipates to reveal roasted white chocolate, pear and a whey crisp.
The grilled octopus entrée, for example, is served over a yuzu kosho, orange and carrot sauce which provides acid, warmth and heat, with cuttlefish XO, quandong, iceplant and a koji purée for dipping. Each mouthful is profoundly, intensely delicious. Line-caught bass grouper is served with an equally ornate array involving chicken-butter sauce, mussels, taramasalata, finger lime, karkalla, a fenugreek purée and curry leaf oil. The Arkady lamb with celeriac, hay and pickled walnut offers an earthier, yet still-decadent profile.
Dessert pairs Jerusalem artichoke ice-cream with a spectacular white mist, which dissipates to reveal roasted white chocolate, pear and a whey crisp. All the while, the service is knowledgeable and the wines are elegant. It’s dining as a symphony: hectic, rich and confident.