The jewel of the High Country and a one-time hangout for Ned Kelly, Beechworth today boasts crisp air, abundant produce and a slew of passionate operators who know just how to handle it. From cutting-edge fine diners and destination wineries to tea rooms frozen in time, Beechworth embraces the future with a deep respect for its past. It’s a place where delicious things are found across all tastes and price points – in pubs and in pie shops, in providores and in parlour bars – and there’s never been a tastier time to visit.

Provenance

Deep in the High Country, a craftsman plies his trade in a former bank. His name is Michael Ryan, chef and co-owner of Provenance, which has held two hats in The Age Good Food Guide for well over a decade. For all his ambition, one thing’s clear: Ryan is devoted to deliciousness. Local venison is ruby-middled magic. A plush wild boar meatball is skewered and rolled in a sweet-sour sauce. Brussels sprouts are undergirded by the boozy rasp of a sauce of sake lees. Emotionally resonant, sui generis food that swells and settles under the baton of a High Country maestro.

86 Ford Street, Beechworth, provenance.com.au

The Parlour Amaro Bar

During the pandemic, Provenance chef Michael Ryan turned his attention to another curiosity: amari – the herbal elixirs and one-time medicines of ancient Italy. Produced with the same clarity that defines his food, Ryan’s amari make delicious appearances on Provenance’s drinks list – but they find full expression one floor up at its companion bar, the Parlour Amaro Bar. That’s where you’ll find him after dessert – one hand dropping the needle on an early Tom Waits record, the other mixing a thinking person’s negroni.

86 Ford Street, Beechworth, instagram.com/theparlouramarobar

Tanswell’s Commercial Hotel

Follow the bluegrass tunes spilling out onto Beechworth’s main drag from this grand old pub. Townsfolk warm their cockles around the fire in the corner – old-timers hooting and hollering as the band hits its stride, footballers and netballers swapping stories after a muddy day’s play. They’re ordering wild boar dim sims, one of several invasive species listed on the highly sustainable (and delicious) menu. Follow their lead. Upstairs, accommodation is simple, cheap and just what the doctor ordered after an evening on the local juice.

50 Ford Street, Beechworth, tanswellshotel.com.au

Moments and Memories Tea Room

Fancy a scone? Make for Moments and Memories Tea Room, where Devonshire tea is the drawcard. There are more than 60 teas to choose from, served from a collection of china that dates back decades. The scones are exceptional, the fitout a Country Women’s Association fantasy. Order a smoky billy tea and they’ll even offer to swap out your china for an enamel mug.

34 Camp Street, Beechworth, moments-memories-tearoom.com.au

Project 49

Beechworth doesn’t want for coffee, and you’ll get a great one at Project 49. The cafe doubles as a providore and wine shop stocking the region’s finest libations – a little Koji Spirits yuzushu from Reed & Co down the Great Alpine Road in Bright, or a jammy gamay from closer afield at Pennyweight Winery. Peckish? The panini are among the best in town.

57 Ford Street, Beechworth, projectfortynine.com.au

Reed & Co

Tasting room, bar, restaurant, bottleshop – Bright distillery Reed & Co is a High Country gintopia. Their spirits swirl through the region’s best martinis, but it’s the inventive likes of their Yuzushu, a rice shochu blended with the zest and juice from locally grown yuzu, and Umeshu, a barley-based, plum-charged shochu, that have been turning heads the country over. The restaurant, Koji Bird (see below), is the country izakaya you’ve been waiting for.

15 Wills Street, Bright, reedandcodistillery.com

Koji Bird

The bird owes its name to an umami-rich marinade made from Reed & Co Distillery’s own koji, Japan’s flavour-unleashing fungus. Chef Yasuaki Tokuda grills each juicy half-chicken over wood before adding a thwack of punchy fermented chilli, then passes it across the long marble counter. Down the other end, distiller Rachel Reed shakes cocktails made from her own gin and shochu, a koji-based spirit, while chirpy waiters in Akubra hats work the room. Plump chooks may be the stars of the show but talented supporting players include rosy Harrietville rainbow trout smoked in-house, and superbly savoury tempura vegetables sprinkled with Japanese curry salt.

15 Wills Street, Bright, reedandcodistillery.com

Pennyweight Winery

A couple of clicks away from the main drag, Pennyweight has been a byword for excellence in Victorian winemaking for over four decades. The cellar door is dreamy: a country hideaway hemmed in by towering gums that’s open 362 days a year for tastings and grazing platters. The Constance Fino, an Australian take on the Spanish sherry, is seen on drinks lists right throughout Victoria – the mark of a sommelier who knows their juice. But you’d be mad to leave without a bottle of the Rutherglen Muscat, said to “slip down the gullet like the devil in velvet trousers”.

13 Pennyweight Lane, Beechworth, pennyweight.com.au

Bridge Road Brewers

CUB could never. At Bridge Road Brewers, your pint is pulled from one of 20 taps, a rotating program of malty mainstays and craft suds lovingly brewed on site. Housed in an 1850s gold-rush building a step back from Beechworth’s main strip, it’s also home to some of the High Country’s best pizzas. Any trip through these parts is incomplete without a slice. Pro tip: grab a slab for the road on your way out.

50 Ford Street, Beechworth, bridgeroadbrewers.com.au

Miss Amelie Gourmet

There’s nothing wrong with a beef mince pie, but how on earth are you meant to go past the exotic splendours in Beechworth’s pre-eminent pie warmer? Will it be the lamb shank, garlic and rosemary? Perhaps the Thai red curry duck? The Chinese barbecue pork belly, even? Rest assured, there are enough ribbons and medals in this haute country bakery to inspire confidence in every decision. We can only show you the warmer door – it’s you that must open it.

85 Ford Street, Beechworth, missameliegourmet.com.au

Silver Creek Sourdough

If it’s the simple pleasure of a fresh loaf you seek, pop into Silver Creek Sourdough. It’s only open during the week, but if you happen to be in town you’ll be rewarded with bread, crumpets and pizza bases of striking quality. If not, don’t fret – you’ll find their range proudly featured on menus across the region.

Boilerhouse Lane (off Gilchrist Avenue), Beechworth, silvercreeksourdough.com.au