Where is this delicious …………. from?
Just over an hour north west of the Melbourne CBD is a gold rush era ghost town called Rocklyn, here you will find Rocky Lead produce. One of the few remaining buildings left in the town, the 1800’s timber Hotel Victoria along with several acres of some of the finest volcanic soils were purchased in 2020 by Melbourne restauranteur James Langley as the place to start a productive garden to supply his restaurants with vegetables.
The garden informs the menu across all of James’ restaurants Bistro Elba in Sorrento, Donna Maria in Flinders but none more so than the city wine bar Patsy’s which was established a year after the garden, and is used almost as an exclusive outlet for that which is being grown at Rockylead farm.
James working with his right-hand man Darren Rose have turned the expansive site once home to the local cricket ground into a veritable oasis, using regenerative agricultural practices, filled with unusual cultivars of many well known vegetables and edible plants. It is also a place for James and Darren to trial the production of rare plants, things that maybe better know in European countries that have never been viable to grown in Australia. It’s a great point of difference for the guest at the restaurants and also a way of demonstrating that there is a market for premium produce grown using the most innovative sustainable techniques.
The farm being in the Central Highlands of Victoria is very much a continental climate; so there is the opportunity to grow plants that thrive in places with definite seasonal variations. The upside to this is that the restaurants have menus filled with produce at its peak, each vegetable only for a short time, a chance to enjoy the fleeting joy of eating at peak flavour and to anticipate the season the following year.
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Seafood focused Southern French bistro - open daily from noon till late.
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Melbourne’s best vegetarian food in a cosy wine bar.
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Italian food in Victoria’s most beautiful seaside village.
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Limiting the garden to just vegetables and salad would be a wasted opportunity, the verges of each bed are filled with herbs, grasses and trees grown for both their inherent value as companion plants and windbreaks as well as being available for the bar tenders and chef to make syrups, tinctures and infusions to use in both cocktails and on the restaurant menus.
Each season brings new flavours and smells from these plants into the glasses of guests and give the staff a unique resource to emhance the dining experience.
