Winery restaurants dominate the Mornington Peninsula’s fine-dining milieu, and Ten Minutes by Tractor is up there with the best of them. Named for the three vineyards comprising the estate (each is ten minutes’ apart by tractor ride), any meal here is a sophisticated affair combining silver service with country casualness. The dining room is warm and contemporary, with stunning views of the surrounding vineyards and bushland.
Behind the innovative menu is Kiwi-born head Hayden Ellis, who’s resume counts The Fat Duck and Ledbury, two of Britain’s most celebrated restaurants. In Melbourne, notable stints include Dinner By Heston, Vue De Monde and Bistro Guillame.
Hyperlocal produce (including foraged ingredients from around the peninsula) and Victorian farms including O’Connors Beef, Roaring Forties Lamb and Wimmera Duck drive the seasonal menu, served as either a five- or seven-course degustation. Pescatarian and vegetarian menus are also available.
Elegant dishes can be matched with wines from the restaurant’s award-winning cellar, which showcases cool-climate drops from the estate as well as those from hand-selected wineries around world. Key varietals include Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Gris.
No visit to the restaurant is complete without a tasting (and a purchase) at the intimate cellar door. Open daily, it’s where you’ll find the estate’s hero bottlings, with cheese plates available on weekends to accompany the tasting experience.
The restaurant’s lunch service on Friday and Saturday is five courses only.
