This renowned regional restaurant is why I still make a 100km detour

Would you drive 100 kilometres out of your way to enjoy an incredible meal? While planning a 2000-kilometre return journey from Melbourne to the Flinders Ranges, I decided the detour would be worth it.

It had been more than a decade since I’d been to Mildura and I didn’t know when I would be back there again. The prospect of eating at the acclaimed Stefano’s Restaurant was too tempting to pass up. What’s an extra 100 kilometres when a special food experience is on the horizon?

When it comes to road trips, my philosophy is that it’s always the special experiences along the way that make them memorable. If your road trip is just highways and service stations, what’s the point? There’s more to a journey than the destination.

I’m not the only one who thinks this way. My partner will happily drive the extra 400 kilometres along the coastal route from Melbourne to Sydney to eat Sydney rock oysters straight from the Sapphire Coast estuaries where they’re grown.

I have friends who won’t consider a Tassie road trip without factoring in a famous curried scallop pie from the Richmond Bakery. If I’m driving to Canberra, the route must include a stop at Long Track Pantry in tiny Jugiong, NSW. I’ll even move my travel day to make sure I don’t miss out (I’ve learned the hard way that it’s closed on Tuesdays).

Stefano’s Restaurant in Mildura opened in 1991. It was (and still is) regarded as one of Australia’s best regional restaurants. When Italian-born Stefano de Pieri moved to Mildura from Melbourne he understood immediately that Sunraysia’s produce needed only to be treated with respect to shine. The local Italian and farming communities provided the produce, de Pieri brought a passion for simple, slow Italian cooking. The restaurant and de Pieri himself soon became an unofficial ambassador for regional Australian produce and the Sunraysia region, helped along by his internationally popular TV show, A Gondola on the Murray.

The first time I ate at Stefano’s was the year 2000, nine years after the restaurant opened. Descending the spiral staircase leading down into the cellar of the 1920s-built Grand Hotel was like being transported to Italy: the warm greeting from the staff, the lighting, music and ambience all designed for conversation, a fixed menu of local ingredients cooked beautifully in traditional cucina povera-style, a sensational local and Italian wine list. My partner and I looked at each other and couldn’t believe our luck.

The 2000 visit was followed by another in 2008, when I was reporting on the drought’s impact on the citrus industry, then another in 2011 via a trip to explore Lake Mungo. Each time the service, food and experience were as I remembered them. In June, my daughters came to Stefano’s with me and half the pleasure of the meal was watching them experience it for the first time.

Stefano’s is not the only reason I like going to Mildura: the long, dusty roads bordered by kilometre after kilometre of orange groves and grapevines; the big-sky feeling of the town’s wide streets; the beautiful Murray River. Taking a riverboat to a local winery or a picnic on the riverbank are both unmissable experiences in this part of Victoria. But I can’t imagine not eating at Stefano’s while I’m there. I’d happily go without breakfast and lunch and stay in a tent than miss out.

The day after our meal, I meet Stefano at a local cafe for a coffee. At 71, he still comes into the kitchen at Stefano’s every afternoon, he’s still hosting annual tours to Italy, still involved in local politics, still full of ideas. He wants to talk about his grandchild, water, farming, and Italy. He wants to know what we ate the night before and if we liked it. He talks about putting emu on the menu and the local almond industry. Retirement seems a remote possibility.

As I head back down the highway for the 542-kilometre drive back to Melbourne, I’m grateful for another incredible food experience to add to my Mildura memories. A rare ritual that will stay on my travel to-do list until Stefano hangs up his hat for good.

THE DETAILS

EAT
Stefano’s five-course fixed price menu is $130 per person. See stefano.com.au

FLY
Qantas flies to Mildura from Sydney and Melbourne. Rex flies to Mildura from Melbourne only. Mildura is about six hours’ drive from Melbourne (542 kilometres) and about four hours drive from Adelaide (396 kilometres).

STAY
If a visit to Stefano’s is your goal, the historic Grand Hotel (now the Quality Hotel Mildura Grand) is the obvious choice. From $140 a night. See milduragrand.com.au

The writer travelled, ate and stayed at her own expense.

Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletter

Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.