More icing on the cake

The next morning is earmarked for a spin around the shops and a move from the Retreat to the other big story in Daylesford's robust accommodation scene, Monastiraki. The antithesis of Lake House's gentle restraint, Monastiraki is an equally fabulous four-bedroom house renovated by Convent Gallery founder, Tina Banitska, who is so far out there I don't think she's ever coming back to us mundane folk.

Every surface in the house is testament to Banitska's wild, unfettered imagination, from the scarlet walls of the Shanghai room to the gleaming white buttocks sculpture and the luscious nude reclining in front of the bed in the Moulin Rouge room. The house is a showcase of art, drawn from years of running the wildly successful gallery that overlooks the town. "It's a very personal house," Banitska says. "It's a liveable space filled with art by my friends and personal favourites."

Monastiraki's fridge has all the essentials: a loaf of organic, wood-fired sourdough from Red Beard Bakery in nearby Trentham; fat olives; Holy Goat's creamy, dreamy goat curd; and a bottle of Good Catholic Girl riesling. Importantly for a chilly spring eve, there are more flames in the grate, a swag of DVDs and fascinating books, and back issues of Italian Vogue strewn about.

The house is a short walk to the main drag, where high rents have resulted in the rejuvenation of nearby Howe Street. In the space of a few steps I've clocked a new homewares store (Quirky Hollows), European cafe (Ego's Culinaria), Japanese restaurant (Kazuki's at the Raglan) and Cecode, a "design workroom" mixing highbrow labels with work by local jewellers, sculptors and woodworkers.

All this for a population of just 7000? "We're a pretty creative bunch, so it's hard to keep us stimulated," the Lake House's Larissa Wolf-Tasker says.

Mindful of Daylesford's reputation as a chi-chi town, it's a bit of a shock to step into Quirky Hollows. "How y' goin'?" asks the owner, Rustin. He's sporting pierced eyebrows, close-cropped hair, a long red beard and work clothes that suggest he's been doing something extremely rugged, instead of selling his own restored furniture and clever homewares to eager punters who arrive with wallets in hand. "Oh my God, my clairvoyant told me someone would do a profile on me!" he says when we start to chat.

"Ha, ha! That's sooo Daylesford," another local says when I tell them of this conversation. "There are two camps in this town: those who go to [clairvoyant] David and those who go to Dorti."

You don't need to be psychic to know that the hottest table in town is at Kazuki's at the Raglan. Kazuki, a Japanese chef formerly of the Lake House clan, has set up shop with his beautiful wife, Saori, offering impossibly delicate tastes.

We're well prepped before we arrive. "It's exquisite," one fan says. "If I had to eat at just one place in Daylesford, Kazuki's would be it." We move easily between a soup of Japanese mushrooms and celery, smoked eel ravioli, lamb rack marinated in miso and, to finish, a gentle lemon thyme panna cotta with sous vide strawberries. The wine list is 50 per cent local, with a mix of old and new world. Glasses are from $9 and dinner is finished with a taste of sake. "We're not doing Japanese but Japanese-inspired flavours using local products," Kazuki says.

At the next table, a couple is enjoying a romantic evening: the wine, the food, the view of the darkened street. The only odd note is that they are both about 20.

"These Daylesford kids," I think, "they're in a class of their own." Mind you, several hours later, a band of the buggers rip the side mirrors off my daggy old hardworking car. They're not so bloody different, after all, I moan.

The townsfolk who learn about the damage are shocked. Stolen lawnmowers make the front page of the local rag. Mildly devastated, I must take solace in food. It's a 10-minute drive to Hepburn Springs where the newly renovated Peppers Mineral Springs Retreat is open for high tea. Our deep sofa is parked directly in front of the fire, a little table set with an extravaganza of gold-trimmed teacups, small plates and elegant little forks that belie their true intention - that is, to shovel in as many beautiful little smoked salmon bites, fruit flans and traditional scones as is humanly possible.

The tiered stands are a credit to its new executive chef Martin Horsley, formerly of MasterChef judge Gary Mehigan's Fenix restaurant. The standard tea offered is a fresh English breakfast, or you can upgrade to a little French Cuvee Riche. There's even talk of requiring guests to dress up for high tea. Imagine - no boardies in the country house. Quelle horreur!

The subtitle of this travel piece could read "how Belinda Jackson ate herself a second backside in Daylesford", so the last stop before the return to Melbourne is a bracing walk in the Wombat Hill Botanical Gardens. Unfortunately, all roads lead to the new Wombat Hill House cafe, another venture by that busy Wolf-Tasker family. People, drive to Daylesford now to eat the duck parfait or to spend late Sunday afternoons doing aperitivo in the gardens, with olives, grissini, pizza and wine.

With food by Alla Wolf-Tasker, murals by her painter husband Alan and the surrounds of the botanic gardens, which date from the 1860s, the cafe encapsulates everything Daylesford. Food, art and beauty: there is no need for more.

The writer was a guest of Daylesford Macedon Ranges Tourism and Tourism Victoria.

Trip notes

Getting there

Daylesford is 110km north-west of Melbourne. The scenic route is via Woodend or take the Western Freeway. A daily V/Line train and bus service operates from Southern Cross Station in Spencer Street.

Staying there

The Retreat's Spa Villa package includes three-course dinner, canapes, drinks and breakfast, $1550 a double, the Lake House, (03) 5348 3329, lakehouse.com.au.

The four-bedroom Monastiraki costs $1870/two nights/eight people. Smaller groups from $390, 7 Daly Street, Daylesford, 0428 170 516, monastiraki.com.au.

Eating there

High tea at Peppers Mineral Springs Retreat, 2.30pm-5.30pm weekends, from $39 (bookings essential), 124 Main Road, Hepburn Springs,

(03) 5348 2202.

Kazuki's at the Raglan, 1 Camp Street. (03) 5348 1218.

Wombat Hill House cafe, Wombat Hill Botanical Gardens, (03) 4373 0099.

Ego's Culinaria cafe, 10 Howe Street, (03) 5348 4001.

More information

visitvictoria.com/dmr.com.

Three other things to do

1 Eat lavender ice-cream, pat llamas and play petanque at Lavandula Swiss-Italian Farm: 350 Hepburn-Newstead Road, Hepburn Springs. $3.50/$1, (03) 5476 4393, lavandula.com.au

2 Knock off a few years with an Eminence High Performance Facial at Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa. Its newest therapist, Shirley, will give you possibly the best facial you have experienced, using organic, non-animal-tested, unfragranced, boutique ingredients. $165, (03) 9999 9386, hepburnbathhouse.com

3 Visit the sleeper hit of East Street for yoga, tattoos and Daylesford celebrity artist David Bromley's studio, which is now just one big, beautiful warehouse space dedicated to his art and finds: grand pianos, quirky trikes and a fabulous old canvas Russian army mess tent. Shed 4, 39 East Street, open Sundays, 10am-5pm, adayonearth.com.au.