There’s more than meets the eye at this new (but old-timey) cocktail and whisky haunt, which has been more than a year in the making: it’s two bars in one.

Be lured off Mornington’s Main Street into The Bon Vivant’s Companion, with elegant art deco stylings, and glossy green and gold features.

Drinks are inspired by the bar’s namesake, a seminal 1862-published book on how to mix drinks by American bartender Jerry Thomas, who bar-owner Tom Wicks calls the “grandfather of cocktails”.

But Wicks gives the classics modern touches. The Manhattan, traditionally made with rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters, is made even deeper and richer with Hellyers Road whisky aged in pinot noir barrels, and a dash of chocolate bitters, while the Choc Fashioned is a sweeter spin on the traditionally bitter Old Fashioned.

You can snack on smoked trout rillettes with salmon roe and house-made chips.

Through one of three doors hidden in the geometric-patterned back wall, Wicks has also realised his dream of opening a whisky-focused speakeasy.

Called Jane, the bar has a 1920s Prohibition-era vibe, with sofas you can sink into and a slightly Japanese flair. The cocktail list might star a wakame-infused highball or a truffle fat-washed boulevardier.

The whisky collection has grown to nearly 200 bottles, including some from “next-level” Tasmanian distillery Belgrove, which grows its own ryecorn to make rye whisky.

Open Wed-Sun 3pm-late.

150 Main Street, Mornington, bonvivantbar.com.au

The Ratbag team dishes up a road-trip-worthy dining experience in Castlemaine

“Nostalgic without being performatively so” is how chef Sarah Curwen-Walker describes the regional restaurant residency she runs with partner Rachael Cilauro.

Called Ratbag, it was born as a pop-up series at Castlemaine’s Boomtown Wine before Curwen-Walker and Cilauro took over the kitchen at nearby Chewton’s Red Hill Hotel. That last residency caught many people’s eyes. Now they’ve taken over the 40-person dining room of Castlemaine’s recently opened boutique hotel Temperance House. Ex-Public Wine Shop and Agrarian Kitchen chef Ali Currey-Voumard popped up there over summer.

More bistro than pub, Ratbag’s new residency is a moveable feast often led by what’s available at the local weekly farmer’s market. On the handwritten menu, you might find hefty beef shin, mushroom and stout pies crowned with puff pastry, or hand-rolled orecchiette tangled with cime di rapa.

“And the desserts have developed a bit of a following,” says Curwen-Walker, who’s serving things like Neapolitan ice-cream (made next-level with organic strawberries and local Cabosse & Feve cacao) and decadent chocolate mousse with boozy prunes.

Run by a crack all-women team, Ratbag will be at Temperance House for the foreseeable future, apart from a two-month shutdown in August and September.

Open Fri-Sat 5pm-9.30pm, Sun noon-4pm

Temperance House, 68 Mostyn Street, Castlemaine, ratbagfoodandwine.com.au