Brae

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Restaurant Rooted in the Land

Brae sits on 20 acres of productive farmland two kilometres from the township of Birregurra, in Victoria's Otways hinterland. The name itself — from the Scottish word for a gentle hillside slope — quietly signals the restaurant's relationship with its landscape. Led by chef Dan Hunter, Brae operates as a restaurant, working organic farm, and boutique accommodation simultaneously, each element informing the other.

For over a decade, Hunter and his team have managed this land using regenerative farming techniques, free of pesticides and synthetic inputs. Each morning, gardeners harvest what the property is producing that day — brambleberries, heirloom beetroots, kohlrabi, nasturtium flowers, fennel pollen, and dozens of other varieties — and that harvest directly shapes the day's service. What the farm cannot provide is sourced from local growers and ethical, sustainable producers in the surrounding region.

Modern Australian Cuisine Shaped by Season and Place

The kitchen translates this daily harvest into a tasting menu described as "environmentally focused Australian cuisine." The menu shifts constantly with the weather and seasons, meaning no two visits are quite alike. This living, evolving approach to Modern Australian cuisine earned Brae a place among The World's 50 Best Restaurants, ranking 44th in 2017 — recognition that reflected not just the quality of the cooking but the coherence of an entire philosophy.

The tasting menu is priced at $370 per person, with matched wine available and a seasonally influenced non-alcoholic pairing featuring botanical beverages grown and produced on the property itself.

Dining Room, Farm, and Guest Suites

Guests settle into a welcoming dining room set amid native gardens and farmland. Paths wind through the property, inviting exploration of the land that underpins everything on the plate. For those who want to extend their stay, six architecturally designed guest suites — created by Six Degrees Architects — are available on nights when a restaurant reservation is held.

Brae also operates as a sustainable workplace, with a four-day service week built around staff well-being — a detail that speaks to the same considered, long-term thinking applied to the farm and the food.

The restaurant acknowledges the Gulidjan people as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the Otways, and frames its stewardship of the land as guided by that enduring connection to Country.