This bird has flown

It was a bittersweet experience at Songbird last week, although not at all due to the meal itself (food was quite delicious, although nearly a tad too spicy for my own palate).

This disappointed feeling was due to the realisation our CBD was about to lose one of its better places to eat and enjoy good hospitality. Like that space’s predecessor, IGNI, the venue has been an important part of the evolution of Geelong’s more serious dining venues, recognised locally and nationally (they’ve held a coveted Chef’s Hat in The Age Good Food Guide since opening). It’s the end of the lease and the owners have decided not to renew, which is easy to appreciate, given some of the tricky conditions that the higher-end of the restaurant market still faces. However, I can’t help but wonder if there was more customers willing to support places of this calibre, if the owners felt there wasn’t so many uncertainties to deal with. Anyway, you still have a couple of months to eat here until they close, so get in and support the current team. Dishes tasted – and now recommended – came courtesy of taking their Feed Me menu, which we left to our host to select, stating our preference of spice level.

Speaking of The Age Good Food Guide and restaurants rated highly, their 2026 guide will announce all winners for this year in just a few weeks’ time. For many – well, most – serious restaurant-goers (me included) it’s the most accurate and honest opinion of which places are offering the very best culinary experience in our state right now (The Sydney Morning Herald does the same for NSW, as does the Brisbane Times for Queensland). It’s a nervous time for restauranteurs hoping to score a mention in this famed foodie bible, as the review-season for this publication historically takes place (roughly) from around May to September. Fingers crossed for all our local eateries out there: let’s hope the Chef Hats are worn by some deserving regional winners this year.

I tasted last week a local Pinot Noir that really impressed me, both because of its depth of fruit purity, as well as its delicacy. The 2023 Bromley Anson Vineyard Pinot Noir is a single site release from Bellarine winemaker Darren Burke. Think red apples, spice and cherries on the palate, with a fruit weight and mouthfeel often associated with high quality Geelong wines. I enjoyed a glass of this at Geelong Cellar Door, and as there’s no winery cellar door (Darren’s day job is with another Bellarine winery) this may be the best place to get your hands on a bottle to take home.

While on the local wine topic, Bellbrae Estate has found a brilliant new winemaker in Yarra Valley recruit Simon Steele. Simon holds a tonne of pedigree in the world of Australian wine, having done previous stints at high profile wineries like Medhurst and Brokenwood (Hunter Valley) as well as numerous vintages overseas. Placed at the doorstep of the Great Ocean Road, it’s a really beautiful spot, particularly with the vines now at an average age of 25 plus. Chardonnay, Shiraz and Pinot have always been well regarded from this vineyard, but having only been onboard for the last couple of vintages, many of his wines are yet to be released. Expect to see the quality of wine under this label increase significantly within the next year or so.

There’s a new addition to the Little Malop dining precinct, with a restaurant focusing solely on fresh seafood opening in the former Gooleys site next to the Poké shop. Michael Bong is the man behind the new diner, which promises to deliver some of the best raw/cooked sea bounty from both our bay and coastline (and beyond). He’s no stranger to the Geelong market either, having opened and operated three other CBD restaurants over the past decade with Tomodachi 1.0 (the original Little Malop outlet) and 2.0 (the newer waterfront version) as well as BBQ Legend on Moorabool. Good luck to the guy, as the more seafood restaurants the better I say, particularly given how much we seem to underuse, and therefore underappreciate, what great quality seafood we really do have access to in our region.

On The Local Palate podcast this week I’ll be chatting with Tourism Greater Geelong & The Bellarine boss, Tracy Carter, about all things local hospitality and event related. If you miss hearing the episode online, there’ll be highlights of our discussion in a print addition over the coming weeks. Stay tuned!