Stillwater at Crittenden is now 18 years old and one of the first winery restaurants on the Peninsula. The chef and owner for that time is Zac Poulier, a Frankston lad who travelled the world cooking in London and the Caymans and cooking burgers as Russell Crowe’s personal chef. Twice. Almost two decades on, the beautiful pavilion-style restaurant and function venue continues to impress with its ever-changing seasonal menu, exceptionally good value and quality wine offering, and a true understanding that hospitality is about making the difficult seem effortless.
The venue sits adjacent to the Crittenden winery cellar door but is a separate business. The dining room opens on to a balcony overlooking a picturesque dam fringed by old willow trees. To the other side is the Crittenden home block vineyard planted out with chardonnay and pinot noir vines. Inside, the tables are dressed in linen, cutlery, and fine stemware. On the balcony, the tables are naked except for drinking and eating utensils. The playlist is fun, modern, and family-friendly. As is the whole Stillwater offer. The sweeping lawns have made it popular for large family gatherings for the best part of the past two decades. “We are about true hospitality,” Zac says. “We want people to have fun, relax, unwind and enjoy each other’s company.” Zac backs his ethos with his prices. Fine wines by the glass average around $14-$16, and bottles sell under the industry standard of 200 per cent mark-up. “Wine is better enjoyed than filling up my cellar,” he says with a laugh.
A meal at Stillwater could start with a salt cod or jamon croquette – hot, crisp, and gold on the outside with a velvety smooth interior. They are just like the ones you find in bars in Spain. Probably because chef David Leon is a native of Madrid. He cooks many dishes on the Spanish-made Josper wood oven that gives dishes like roast asparagus a lovely smoky tang. Served with tiny dried tomatoes and zingy cooked egg yolk, it is topped with an entire creamy fiore du burrata mozzarella. Or there could be a plate of fresh Skull Island prawns baptised in garlic-infused hot olive oil until set, then served with a Tuerong Farm sourdough made with wheat from a property a few k away.
The menu is prix fixe at $75 for two courses or $90 for three. Mains could be chef showing off his Spanish credentials with half a rack of seared and smoky pork ribs served in a sticky Pedro Ximenez sauce, mashed potato and grilled broccoli. There could be some hand-turned tortelloni stuffed with pumpkin, or an Italian cut of porterhouse grilled to medium rare in the Josper oven, thinly sliced, and served on a bed of rocket enriches with slivers of Reggiano and the sweet tang of aged balsamic.
The meal might finish with the freshness of a passionfruit and white chocolate cheesecake, orange coulis, and refreshing orange sorbet. Continuing the summer feel is the creamy yet light lemongrass and ginger panna cotta with a silky aloe vera salsa and the crunch of pieces of hazelnut crumble. We take all this in watching the dragonflies dance with the dry clatter over the still water of the dam, punctuated by the occasional squawk from the pair of purple swamphens.
RICHARD CORNISH
Richard Cornish is a freelance food writer filing regular food news stories for newspapers and magazines across Australia, including Eat.Drink Mornington Peninsula and each month in Mornington Peninsula Magazine.
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