By Dongyun Kwon
The Yarra Valley shone in the 2024 Reader’s Choice Award for its beautiful hospitality businesses.
Eight businesses from bars to restaurants in the region have been selected for the award by the Australian Good Food Guide.
Tokar Estate in Coldstream is a family-owned and run boutique winery featuring a restaurant, cellar door and bed and breakfast accommodation.
Tokar Estate general manager Daniel Tokar said the team is thrilled to be recognised for all of their hard work as its restaurant was put on the list.
“It is always uplifting to be recognised by our customers as a favourite in the Yarra Valley, especially among the high calibre of venues in the area,” he said.
“When the restaurant first opened over 20 years ago, it was a passion project with the dream to offer friendly service and delicious food, complemented by boutique award-winning wines.
“Rita Tokar viewed the restaurant as an extension of her family dining room, and sought to provide the same level of warm hospitality.”
His parents Rita and Leon Tokar first purchased the 40-acre property back in the early 90s as a bare paddock, originally intended as a weekend escape.
With a passion for wine and having friends in the area with successful vineyards, Leon Tokar planted a few acres of vines, which soon expanded to five varietals across 30 acres.
“With a growing following and a need for more space, the Tokar family then built the restaurant and winery building, which has just celebrated its 21st birthday,” Daniel Tokar said.
“The separate cellar door was built in 2019, providing a family-friendly space, and a large area for wine tastings and events.”
Napoleone Cider and Orchard Bar is a hidden gem in the Yarra Valley.
Sharing the estate of Punt Road Wines, visitors enjoy estate-made apple and pear ciders that are pressed into fresh juice and fermented into refreshing ciders by its winemakers who just happen to love cider.
Its friendly and knowledgeable team serves up the cider in a relaxed atmosphere while guests enjoy its gorgeous setting in the middle of estate orchards and vineyards.
Napoleone Cider is owned and operated by the third and fourth generations of the Napoleone family, who have been orchardists in the Yarra Valley since the 40s.
The cidery started in the late 2000s as a passion project.
Napoleone Cider and Punt Road Wines general manager Tim Wilson said cider is sold and priced like beer but it is made like wine using the same equipment.
“Cider tends to be enjoyed as a summer drink in Australia. When the temp is rising, so too do cider sales,” he said.
“To keep the cider love flowing in winter, we started a mulled cider program a few years ago.
“In the last two years this has gone bananas and, this year, around 90 pubs and venues in and around Melbourne are pouring Napoleone Mulled Cider, making it just as busy as Summer.
The Laneway Healesville offers South and North American street food such as Nachos, tacos and burritos with cocktails.
The Laneway Healesville owner Heather Alcock said although it’s been just two years for her new business, she has been in the food industry for 14 years running another cafe Mocha and Lime for 12 years in Healesville beforehand.
“Our first year of The Laneway Healesville was a whirlwind of figuring out who we were and how to get people to find us,” she said.
“The biggest challenges are location and spice, some people are scared that the food will be too spicy, but once they try it, they love it.
“The venue is a real hideaway on the main street. The garden is large, with lots of nooks to sit and relax, but finding us seems to be tricky.”
After two years of operation, The Laneway Healesville has been getting good recognition and has a great number of regulars and visitors.
Ms Alcock said her business has won the Reader’s Choice Award for two years in a row.
“Fast forward two years and we’ve found our rhythm, and we’re thrilled to be gaining recognition,” she said.
“Fresh, tasty food, coffee and cocktails are our thing. Friendly service with a smile.
“We’re a family-run business with a team that feels like extended family, so everything is made with love, and let’s not forget our coffee, our baristas are absolute legends and have built us a solid reputation in town.”
Spinner’s Souvlaki Bar and Grill is a Greek-style bar and grill based out of Healesville, boasting a variety of Greek-themed dishes for both takeaway and dine-in experiences.
Family-owned and managed Spinner’s has maintained a reputation for fresh, tasty, in-house prepared food and catering services.
Spinner’s owner John Athanasopoulos said his team is thrilled to receive another Australian Good Food Guide award, and is extremely thankful to the customers who appreciate them and allow them to become recognised for the work they have put in as a collective.
“Our secret to maintaining a good reputation and consistent recognition is consistently communicating with customers and building effective relationships, especially in a smaller town such as Healesville,” he said.
“We strive to keep an emphasis on putting 100 per cent effort into every single meal we prepare and take pride in the work we do.
“Communication with all suppliers is something we do on a weekly basis sourcing the best quality product.”
Spinner’s was founded in 2018.
John and Leanne Athanasopoulos had originally run a Fish and Chip Shop on the corresponding side of town.
“Seeing a gap in the Greek Cuisine market in the Yarra Valley was the kickstarter and main motivator for Spinner’s originally which resulted in a fully in-house design of both the store and the menu to fit both the area and demographic,” Mr Athanasopoulos said.
No.7 Healesville is a restaurant and wine bar celebrating the seasons with shared-style dishes paired with an exciting and ever-changing list of organic drinks from around the world.
No.7 Healesville restaurant manager Spike Frazer said his team is passionate about giving people a good experience.
“No. 7 initially started as an urban winery for your winemakers to launch their own labels,” he said.
“With our background in weddings, events and restaurants, such as Stones of the Yarra Valley, The Stables and Meletos, we obviously built in a restaurant and events space.
“We still make wine here for the weddings at Stones and our in-house label Fallow, working with beautiful organic grapes grown in the Yarra Valley, and our thoughtful and personable service makes dining and drinking exciting and memorable.”
Mr Frazer said there was a big adversity when a planned power outage around the Covid period happened but the team wisely dealt with it.
“We couldn’t use our kitchen on a Sunday lunch service due to a planned power outage, but our chef Joel Bowers was quick to think of a solution,” he said.
“He has had a passion for modern Mexican cooking, and we fired up the outside grill and had a really fun day.
“From then on, we’ve continued our exploration of this cuisine using local and seasonal ingredients.”
Yileena Park is a small boutique winery in Yarra Glen specialising in aged red wine with a minimum of five years and smoked food products.
Yileena Park manager Scott Coleman said it was a surprise to get the award.
“I only saw the email a couple of weeks ago, and we weren’t even aware we were nominated,” he said.
“We very much appreciate and are thankful that we have had that recognition.”
Yileena Park was started in 1998 as the vineyard was planted by the previous owners who retired a year ago.
Mr Coleman said the goal of the previous owners was to create aged wine, which the current Yileena Park team is happy to continue.
“We’re lucky to be able to inherit that business philosophy,” he said.
“We’ll keep offering our good personal service, a warm and friendly place, and personal connections.”
Monroe’s Burgers and Beers is located on the main street of Healesville, specialising in craft beer and good quality burgers.
Monroe’s Burgers and Beers owner Paul Stephens said his team was pumped to be recognised by the Australian Good Food Guide and its readers.
“It’s no secret hospitality is going through a tough period at the moment, so the positive feedback means a lot to everyone and reinforces that all their hard work is appreciated,” he said.
The burger shop has prepared everything fresh and used good ingredients since the beginning.
Mr Stephens said there’s no real secret to getting good recognition.
“We often get asked what’s our secret, usually by customers who insist they’ve never tasted a burger this good, certain we have some top secret recipe or something, but there’s no real secret,” he said.
“Our beef patties are formed by hand from beef that we mince in-house every single day, blending three carefully selected cuts of steak.
“In addition to preparing everything fresh and on-site except for our buns which are baked fresh across the road, we also have an almost endless variety of specials, we create a new burger each week, plus rotate through some of our more popular specials from the paste on our ever-changing secret menu.”
Star Mail contacted Healesville Thai Kitchen which is also on the list.
