Euroa Butter Factory, review: Creamy and dreamy

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This was published 10 years ago

Euroa Butter Factory, review: Creamy and dreamy

Warm and welcoming: For a change of scenery, guests can relax over chess in the lounge room.

Warm and welcoming: For a change of scenery, guests can relax over chess in the lounge room.

Melanie Ball is easily buttered-up with lip-smacking dining at a former dairy.

Euroa gained fame in 1878 when the Kelly Gang relieved the National Bank of £2260. More importantly to a cricket tragic such as myself, the old Hume Highway town is the birthplace of mustachioed Merv Hughes. It also has the rare distinction of being home to three Victoria Cross recipients, honoured for valour in the Boer War and World War I. But none of that influenced my choice of weekend getaway. An internet crawl landed me on the Euroa Butter Factory's website, and on its front doorstep a few weeks later.

A three-storey red-brick building with a steam-era chimney at the back, the Euroa Butter Factory was built in 1901 after fire destroyed its predecessor. It went on to produce export-quality butter for 50 years. After significant restorations and renovations by the current owners, the factory is again producing butter for patrons of The Store (an in-house cafe) and the Delivery Room restaurant, as well as for wedding guests.

Milk transported from regional farms by horse and cart was unloaded and checked for quality here, explains chef-manager Billy Dohnt (ex-Salopian Inn, Magill Estate and Bridgewater Mill in South Australia) as we step into the Delivery Room foyer. "Dye was added to rejected milk so it could not be offered again."

The butter factory's five guest rooms are up a steel and wood staircase, past metal pulley wheels bolted to the ceiling, and off a lofty guest lounge with inviting leather couches, a rectory table with chessboard, and moody contemporary paintings.

Our Balcony Room is named for the Juliet balcony beyond our bathroom's french doors, which funnel morning sunlight and overlook vegetable gardens. But having escaped Melbourne's rush hour by minutes, my husband focuses on the plum-coloured acrylic "cast iron" bath with claw feet; it proves comfortable in the short-term for a 1.93-metre man with a book and a glass of red (the shower is big enough for two).

The queen-size bed encourages afternoon naps. We could unpack into the antique dark-wood wardrobe but don't, and a narrow modern wall table is soon covered with tourist brochures. There is a small flat-screen television but no phone. A black-and-white theme carries across the lampshades, cushions, lone artwork and bathroom tiles.

Two other rooms along our short corridor share a windowless bathroom, while a red lacquer bowl, oriental carpet and Buddha painting give a delicious Asian flavour to a spacious en-suite room behind double red doors in the lounge room. The fifth and final accommodation option is a light-filled en-suite tower room up another flight of stairs.

And then we ate The Delivery Room restaurant operates only on Friday nights. The choice is a three-course ($55) or five-course ($75) degustation menu with a twist: if you don't want to go with Billy's selection, you can make your own - three desserts if you fancy. A rich duck-broth shot, one of two complementary offerings, and an entree of grilled yabbies on prawn ravioli with butter sauce (made with product from the factory, of course) make this the best meal I have eaten in years.

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Breakfast is anything from The Store menu, which for me is scrumptious toasted muesli with home-grown rhubarb and yoghurt one morning and golden yellow poached eggs, fresh from the chook pen out the back, the next.

The deal maker There's a relaxing and satisfying sense of new life from old in this industrial building. The town's got a subdued buzz about it, too.

Stepping out Saturday morning we wander along Seven Creeks into town and stroll along streets fronted with elegant homes, a fancy-brick post office and shops. We spend the afternoon at the Euroa Agricultural Show (October), watching sheepdogs working reluctant wethers into pens, speed shearers competing for sashes and tyre vouchers, and cheering on dogs of all shapes running flyball competition relays.

VISITORS' BOOK

Euroa Butter Factory

Address 79 Boundary Road North, Euroa, 3666.

The verdict Inspired blend of food, comfort and history.

Price From $155 weeknights; $390 for two nights at weekends. The tariff includes full breakfast. There is a two-night minimum stay most weekends.

Bookings Phone 5795 1408, see euroabutterfactory.com.au.

Getting there The Euroa Butter Factory is a short drive off Euroa Main Road (old Hume Highway). The drive from Melbourne takes about two hours.

Perfect for Couples wanting a weekend away, business meetings, family celebrations.

Wheelchair access Restaurant yes, accommodation no.

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