Meet the perilla leaf: it could be in the garden, during the obligatory stroll between courses; on your plate with avocado, celery and lime; and then again in a book that staff will helpfully tug down from the collection in the sunny cottage dining room. Every ingredient here is delivered with loving attention, evidence of hours invested growing, plucking and perhaps preparing. Such as with baby turnips highlighting a house-cured ocean trout, or nectarines churned into icecream that’s partnering a lime-and-coconut tart. After two decades, Sunnybrae is as beguiling a destination as ever. As your tyres crunch up the driveway past the dam, olive grove, and rolling mounds of fruit trees, herbs and vegetables, time slows down. The five courses - maybe local mussels in verjuice, jamon with figs, a cornucopia of vegetables, wood-oven roasted turkey or goat slowly braised, followed by exotica like a tamarind souffle - will see you roll home feeling as cossetted as Sunnybrae’s beloved produce.

Open Sat–Sun 12.30–2.30pm (closed mid-May–mid-June)
Typical prices Set menu $70 (5 courses)
Cards AE MC V Eftpos
Wine Stridently Victorian, with plenty of choice; BYO (corkage $10 for first bottle, $15 second, $20 thereafter)
Owners George Biron & Dianne Garrett
Chefs George Biron & Richard Hooper
Seats 58; private room

And … Learn some Sunnybrae kitchen secrets at the cooking school - classes run weekly.