Bellview Hill B&B, Loch review: Ambush by apron

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This was published 14 years ago

Bellview Hill B&B, Loch review: Ambush by apron

School's in ... Bellview Hill B&B has two king-sized bedrooms and a one-bedroom cottage for guests.

School's in ... Bellview Hill B&B has two king-sized bedrooms and a one-bedroom cottage for guests.

Natalie Craig is relieved to learn her mystery break involves cooking not combat.

'Is it horseriding? Skydiving? Oh no, not paintball? It is, isn't it?" My partner chuckles and says nothing as we drive across unfamiliar countryside to what he calls my "mystery mini-break".

I'm worth it, after all. But the instruction to pack sensible shoes has me worried. Has he forgotten that I am a princess who likes soap and flowers, not dirt and guns?

My paranoia brews as we draw further from civilisation. Rolling, grassy hills are dotted with the occasional clump of cypress trees - perfect for camouflaging paintball snipers.

Storm clouds gather as we turn up a driveway lined with eucalypts to our destination. Mercifully, Bellview Hill B&B is no army barracks. Stretching along a summit, the neat, modern, cream house has long windows to take in the charming South Gippsland terrain, somewhere between Loch and Korumburra.

Hosts Angela and Rob Morris greet us like friends, offering us space in the garage to protect our car from the impending storm, with the caveat that birds nesting there might poo on the bonnet. They take our bags to our room (quick check: posh!) and tell us to put on our closed-toe shoes before joining them in the kitchen.

The kitchen? Could it be?

"Ta-da! Profiteroles - not commando rolls!" proclaims my partner, bursting with pride at his ability to petrify and delight me all in the space of one morning.

Shock melts into sheer joy. Sensible shoes are for cooking. We make our way through to the stylish, purpose-built commercial kitchen, with two ovens, a massive island bench and a frighteningly powerful gas stove. Two aprons and instruction booklets await us.

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Angela takes us through the menu: tapenade and gougere (cheese puffs) for appetisers, twice-baked goat's cheese souffle for entree, salt and pepper duck breast with spicy plum sauce for main course and meringue roulade to finish.

"Hopefully, there are some skills you're unfamiliar with?" Angela asks. My partner looks at me, bemused. He has never broken an egg, let alone whisked one to form "soft, delicate peaks" but the degree of difficulty is good for me.

The kitchen has sweeping views and, as the rain starts to fall in sheets, I can think of no better place to be.

We start with the gougere. My partner struggles to weigh out the ingredients accurately, which prompts immature high-school banter that lasts the entire lesson.

"Errr - you suck!"

"Shut up, teacher's pet!"

Angela doesn't mind the repartee. Husband Rob is cheeky, too. He bustles in at intervals, engaging my partner in manly football talk and cheerily clearing up our mess while threatening to call in the dishwashers' union.

Angela's menu plan is cleverly designed to take us through the building blocks of French cuisine. We make choux pastry dough and add cheese to make the gougere - but we could have added sugar for cream puffs or chocolate for eclairs.

We make a bechamel sauce, infused with thyme, bay and peppercorns, before folding in cheese and expertly frothed eggs to make individual souffles. Meringue involves stiffer eggs but can also be adapted to include raspberry coulis or passionfruit cream.

With the spicy sauce simmering and nothing but the final cooking of duck breast and souffle left to do, we are given leave to relax in our room.

It is immaculate. A king-sized bed with weighty white linen sits in the middle of an oversized room with windows on all sides. Double glass doors open on to a quaint patio with matching chairs. A mini-bar with drinks and a TV with a zillion channels are welcome accessories. The decor looks five-star and refined.

There is nothing underplayed about the designer bathroom. The double shower takes up an entire wall, with two shower heads facing the centre about six metres apart. The bath looks deep enough to swim in and I fill it past my shoulders in preparation for a long soak.

Emerging waterlogged an hour later, we put the finishing touches on the duck and tuck into the appetisers.

Angela and Rob join us in the lounge room - an elegant, comfortable space separated from the dining room by an open fireplace. Angela tells us she was a hospital pharmacist for 35 years but had always loved cooking and spent her year of long-service leave completing a commercial cookery qualification at TAFE — essentially an apprenticeship condensed into a year.

They have owned the property since 1986, using an old cottage as a weekender. About five years ago, they demolished the weekender and construction began on the purpose-built luxury guesthouse with two king-size bedrooms (one of which is ours) and a separate wing for them. They also built a separate one-bedroom cottage with kitchen and bathroom with spa and deck.

The dinner ready, we sit at a polished timber table. It's a quiet weekend, so Angela and Rob dine with us.

The food is astoundingly professional. I can hardly believe my partner and I had a hand in it. Local pinot noir flows and we hear about the couple's overseas adventures and their impending trip to France, where Angela will join a friend in May to teach French cooking to travellers.

We rise late the next morning to a breakfast of fresh orange juice, homemade granola, baked eggs with mushrooms, spinach, bacon, cream and cheese and toasted homemade bread with sensational tangelo marmalade.

Angela tells us she's been running the classes since October but is delighted to have finally taught a couple - most of her students are women. She asks if we would mind giving her some pointers on how to improve the experience. We're stumped. The whole operation is honed to perfection. "Mystery mini-break package deals?" I suggest. "Sensible shoes compulsory."

VISITORS' BOOK

Bellview Hill B&B

Address 270 Soldiers Road, Loch.

Bookings Phone 5659 7285, see bellviewhill.com.

Getting there Loch is about 1 ½ hours' drive from Melbourne via the Monash Freeway and South Gippsland Highway.

Price Two nights in a king suite including a half-day cooking class, all meals, wine or soft drinks, snacks, tuition, recipe folder and, where appropriate, samples to take home is $435 a person, twin share ($525 with single supplement).

Summary This B&B is as slick and professional as it is personal. Impeccable self-contained cottage and purpose-built guesthouse. Meals based on French staples are first-rate, while cooking classes are entertaining.

Verdict 19

The score: 19-20 excellent; 17-18 great; 15-16 good; 13-14 comfortable.

All weekends away are conducted anonymously and paid for by Traveller

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