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[title]Geelong might commonly be known as the gateway to the Great Ocean Road, but this ex-industrial city's hospitality scene is booming and thriving like no other. It's easy to spend an entire weekend sampling the delicacies of local wine bars, restaurants run by those with Michelin-starred experience and unparalleled cafés. Geelong and its residents are out to prove that it's a culinary tour de force to be reckoned with.
Eat
Box Office Café
You’d be mistaken for thinking you stepped foot into a cruisy beach shack-esque café and wine bar when you arrive at Box Office Café. The shipping container situated in the thick of suburbia embodies a laissez-faire attitude. Staffs smize behind masks and make you feel welcome, four-legged friends stand by their owners in wait for a puppercino and kitschy, mismatched antiques fill the venue.
Rows of locally produced wines are on offer to purchase and take home, and a glass display case stocked full of sandwiches and pastries has diners averting their eyes from the menu. But it’s hard to go past the corn fritters. A stack of corn and zucchini fritters provide a surprising cheese pull thanks to hidden halloumi. They’re topped with a fried egg and avocado, accompanied by a jalapeño and sesame aioli and pepperberry corn salsa that evokes freshness. In this instance, a spiral wave of smoked salmon lends its umami notes to complete the dish.
Native bush foods are at the forefront of the majority of dishes, and a separate vegan menu ensures no one is left behind. Coffee and teas are both exceptional and moreish, as they should be – the ‘troppo’ tea packs a subtle punch of pineapple and pairs beautifully with each dish.
1915
It’s easy to get a little bit lost on your way to 1915. Situated in the heart of the Federal Mills, the venue is housed in the former bones of the boiler room. It's a gargantuan warehouse space that is divided into two levels. Ground floor is where the majority of the action happens. The venue is co-owned by Cam Hamilton (of the Hamilton Property Group) who purchased the entire site and gave the old Federal Mill the love it needed.
Rob Macafee who also owns the venue makes the magic happen on-site together with head chef Andy Symeonakis (who previously worked at now-closed Hellenic Republic). As a result, you’ll spot the likes of the infamous grain salad, given a slight facelift by Symeonakis. It’s complimented by dishes like sharp saganaki, swimming in sweet, local fig leaf syrup, topped with baby figs. An unlikely hero are the Singapore chilli prawns that divert an otherwise Mediterranean-leaning menu. Butterflied prawn cutlets are coated in a moreish, crimson chilli sauce that borders on sweet chilli, but enters more sophisticated territory. It’s lapped up with a crisp layer of toast.
Cocktails spruik neighbouring Anther’s gin. The Powerhouse Spritz is a phosphorecent pink number that combines Anther Gin, elderflower, passionfruit, Rhubi Rhubarb Liqueur and soda. It’s light, acidic, sweet and ridiculously refreshing. Macafee is particularly proud of the venue’s most popular cocktail (that he suggested) – the White Chocolate Passionfruit Martini. While the name might throw sugar-coated red flags, the drink proves itself to be balanced. The acidity from the passionfruit works in harmony with the sweetness of vanilla vodka and a thin layer of white chocolate dusted on top.
La Cachette
You might not expect to find an intimate French bistro parallel to Geelong’s waterfront, but there’s a lot more to this city than meets the eye. La Cachette is helmed by chef Matt Podbury who has cut his teeth at venues like Captain Moonlite in Anglesea and completed stints overseas at the likes of Café Sillon in Lyon and Michelin-starred venue Lyle’s in London. La Cachette is his domain, and it is here he offers a set three-course menu that changes every three weeks.
This is contemporary French dining at its finest. No frills or nonsense, just simple, seasonal ingredients working together in unison with French techniques. An entrée of asparagus and tender spring leek seems unassuming but proves itself to be the dish of the evening. It lies in a pool of umami chicken vinaigrette, a sun-like yolk rendered just runny on the side. When broken, it seeps into the broth-like vinaigrette and thickens it, leaving each forkful of asparagus glossy. A perfectly blushing cut of Hereford beef rump soon arrives at the table with an unlikely weapon at its side. A blocky, white, 3D printed knife repurposed from recycled plastic slices straight through it. Wilted layers of treviso, a variety of radicchio, and fresh nasturtium marry with a Cantabrian anchovy gravy to lend richness to the meat.
It’s all washed down with a 2019 Laurence et Remi Dufaitre Beaujolais Brouilly. Biodynamic and minimal intervention wines populate the list from all across Europe and Australia. A word to the wise: don’t forget to start off with an escubac and tonic. Not a commonplace cocktail you’d find at a restaurant, but the ultimate palate cleanser nonetheless. It’s tough to leave Geelong when you know you’re leaving behind gems like these.
Felix
You wouldn’t think it, but at the end of a dead-end in the middle of Geelong is a sophisticated diner with some of the area’s best food. This is Felix, the sister restaurant of nearby South American-inspired restaurant, Alma. It’s a stunning European-inspired space designed by Elly Featherstone at Flux interior design, complete with wraparound brown leather banquette seating, a grandiose bar backed by dark wooden veneer arches, and terrazzo walls surrounding them.
The attention to detail is exquisite and this carries on through to the food. A smear of tonnato is topped with a colourful melange of crudités, served with a chef hat-like ciabatta that’s freshly baked and adorned with a light crust. Polish off the fresh crudités and mop up the tonnato with mouthfuls of soft, moreish bread. Pan-fried snapper fillets render the fish’s skin so crisp it shatters, while the flavour is complemented by a bed of tomatoey sauce vierge spiked with olives and slices of roast fennel.
The 'Tirami-choux' shows off the team’s ability to concoct a choux pastry so delicate that it breaks apart at the touch of a spoon and is stuffed with mascarpone, vanilla and, topped with the piece de resistance, espresso. It’s best paired with a sticky from the list (of which there are four), or sample any of the other impressive wines by the glass. At present, it’s hard to go past the 2018 Frederic Puffeney Tradition Arbois Savagnin Chardonnay. With venues like this, it’s hard to view Geelong other than anything but a destination for those seeking the finer things in life, like exceptional food and wine.
Drink
Provenance Wines
This family-owned cellar door, restaurant and winery owned by winemakers Scott Ireland and Sam Vogel is situated in a former paper mill. The team saw potential in the abandoned space and worked hard to build it up to be the beautiful, heritage-listed bluestone building it is today. The venue overlooks the banks of the Barwon River and is set in lush, green bush. The cellar door is ideal for events with its high ceilings, stacked wine barrels adorning the sides and open kitchen.
On the wine-front, the winery sources its grapes from around Geelong and the Bellarine, Ballarat and Henty (which produces stunning riesling) and produces everything from shiraz to pinot noir, blanc de blanc to sherry. Tastings are available on-site and are an unmissable experience. Head chef Nathan McIver has cut his teeth at venues like Geelong’s own Igni and fine diner Brae, and each tasting showcases not only his skill, but a perfectly paired set of wines courtesy of resident wine expert, Liam Tromp. The two work together like a pair of artists – at first they butt heads, before coming together to orchestrate a seamless pairing. Chardonnay elevates a curl of deep-fried nori topped with kangaroo tartare and nasturtium, while the winery's Frankenstein's monster, a sherry concocted from chardonnay leaves, dances alongside peach cheeks sandwiching white chocolate mousse made from hay cream. Provenance Wines single-handedly ruins every other tasting experience for us. If tastings aren’t as exceptional as these, then we aren’t interested.
Anther Distillery
Founded in 2016 by Dervilla McGowan and Sebastian Reaburn, Anther Distillery’s small-batch, handmade gins are highly awarded. The duo originally called Anther home to Collingwood’s Craft and Co before relocating to Richmond and then finding its digs in Geelong in November 2020. Now situated in the historic Federal Mills, its neighbour is eatery and events space 1915.
The cellar door space is managed by a small team and takes guests on a journey of the senses. The anther is part of the flower containing the pollen, and keeping that in mind, Australian native plants are at the essence of each of their gins. Five gins are usually showcased at each tasting with varying flavour profiles and matching botanicals are dished up in their raw form for you to experiment with. Anther’s cherry gin is painstakingly made by the team using cherries sourced from Spreyton Fresh in Tasmania. While the Goddess Strength gin is a nod to its mainly female team, and uses sarsparilla that contains saponins that can mimic estrogen and testosterone, and damiana that is known to be a female aphrodisiac.
Archive Wine Bar
For some of the finest bar snacks in town and one of the most impressive wine lists in Victoria, look no further than Archive Wine Bar. This narrow hole-in-the-wall was started by Ray Nadeson and Maree Collis (owners of Lethbridge Wines) and partners Graham and Ingrid Sutherland. It boasts a 170-strong list of wines by the glass, and Graham can often be spotted at the bar armed with a trusty Coravin. Barolo, Burgundy, Yarra Valley, you name the region, they’ve got it.
This isn’t the spot to visit if you’re looking for a new-age natty number, but an old-world tipple by the glass that you can’t get elsewhere without spending a small fortune on the bottle. A 1989 Vouvray presents itself in pristine condition, its sweet nectar as pronounced and smooth as it would have been when bottled. And it’s paired beautifully with the venue’s grazing platter. A small selection of charcuterie is thoughtfully assembled and totes a local French teacher’s neighbour’s curried tomato relish, Lard Ass’s cultured butter, peppery, fennel-laced salami, soft French cheese and more. The walls inside the bar are lined with panels from wine boxes by some notable producers – Domaine de la Romanee-Conti and Domaine William Fèvre to name a few.
Graham, who is currently studying his WSET Level 4 Diploma wants to put Geelong on the map for wine. With that in mind, he was the first to start teaching WSET Level 1 and 2 at the venue itself. The bar is pumping all throughout the day with punters heading in and out in solid streams, yet Graham manages to have a chat with wine fanatics and sommeliers that hang onto his words like honey. Heading outdoors, there is a surprisingly vast beer garden. Parasols and tables dot it and there’s an adjoining, kitschy undercover area whose walls are lined with an impressive array of magnums that were consumed at Graham’s 40th birthday. Geelong is well and truly putting it on by adding a boozy feather like this one to its cap.
Stay
R Hotel
Overlooking Geelong's waterfront is the R Hotel. It's a five-minute walk to the beach in one direction and a five-minute walk to entertainment precinct Little Malop Street in the other, proving why it's so popular among locals and tourists alike. Comprising luxury apartments, the R Hotel offers self-catering accommodation with all the modern conveniences, including Fisher and Paykel dishwashers, full-sized refrigerators, cooking facilities, washing machines and dryers. Play your cards right and you'll swing a room on the beachside of the building, with lovely views of the ocean and Ferris wheel at the end of the street. Some of the apartments are also pet-friendly.