Yabby Lake Lunch

There’s nothing we love more than getting off the beaten track. Abby Lake is one of these destinations - frequented by many, yet tucked away and hidden from some, as they approach the Balnarring exit (off the Peninsula Link). These days, running a restaurant let alone winery on the Pen is highly competitive, with so many wonderful options on offer. It’s no longer just about offering great food and wine but rather the stories and experience behind the vineyard, and Yabby Lake has this in abundance. Is it exceptional hand crafted wines passed from winemaker to cellar door you are looking for?

Whispering Vines

Trofeo Estate is situated on the iconic Harrisons Road precinct of Dromana - in the 1930’s it was a passionfruit plantation - it is one of the Pen’s oldest vineyards but newest wineries. From the moment you enter the property, with it’s oak lined driveway, you’re surrounded by vines & beautiful rural views.

Cooking with Kids cookery class at Georgie Bass Cafe & Cookery

This class is a fun and interactive session where your kids can get involved in the cooking process of building healthy burgers, flipping fruit piklets and baking mini pizzas, before washing it all down with colourful and tasty smoothies. Ideally suited for 12 to 16 year olds, parent's attendance required.

Picture-perfect backdrop in Dromana

Zac and Jacqui Poulier, established Stillwater at Crittenden in 2004. Both have extensive culinary experience in Melbourne, and around the world. After working and travelling the world together, they returned to the Pen and the rest as they say is history.

Harvested by hand in Red Hill

The Red Hill Lavender Farm & Distillery produces a small variety of exceptional & effective products containing only pure essential oils – it’ a dream come true for Kylie and Brad Crump and their daughters. Inspired by the beauty of Provence, they hand-planted fields of lavender.

Essence Food for the Soul

When chef husband and wife team Jim and Melanie Houston got married at the Portsea Hotel, little did they know that 10 years later they would buy a business across the road from the Portsea Hotel and live in it with their three children for the best part of a year. That business is now known as Essence Food for the Soul. As chefs, life for Jim and Melanie was busy, particularly with three young children. The long hours took a strain, and they were ready to make a lifestyle change within the food industry. Sometimes everything falls into place and you find the ideal scenario, and this wholesale food business was perfect for the chef team. Essence Food for the Soul is all about the best quality produce made into delicious, heat and serve meals that help the time poor to eat well.

The Heart of Merricks

In 1924, Merricks General Wine Store (MGWS) opened, to serve a variety of needs to the local community. To this day, the well preserved building offers a glimpse into the past as a typical example of the rural general stores that were once such a central hub of community life. The charming rustic building, with gable bays & verandah, & a tree-shaded deck with outdoor fireplace, provides the kind of setting that somehow seems to infuse itself with the tastes on offer. Serving contemporary breakfast, lunch and snacks, the store is a popular meeting spot for many that also includes a produce store, selling a range of locally harvested jams, relishes and sauces.