Petit Tracteur
Mornington-Flinders Rd | Main Ridge | VIC
My recent visit to the Mornington Peninsula was all kinds of wonderful. Culinary overindulgences; rugged, raging coastlines and the architectural feats perched upon them. The coastline I will cover in a later blog post. This piece is all about the food at a French-inspired bistro called Petit Tracteur. Located in Main Ridge, an area of the Peninsula known for its artisan food, wine and produce.
I nearly didn’t make it in the door in time for lunch… there is a sizeable walkway leading up to the bistro lined either sides with gardens, and as you could imagine I got a bit distracted there…. rose bushes, spiky artichokes poking up through the other greenery giving the brown, wooden barn-like bistro ahead a rustic, French farmhouse feel.
As the French name ‘Petit Tracteur’ suggests the bistro is the little sister of the acclaimed Ten Minutes By Tractor restaurant and winery about a kilometer down the road. Sharing the same philosophy as that restaurant, Petit Tracteur bistro utilises, wherever possible fresh regional produce for their dishes and the results are fresh, tasty dishes with a French flare.
Every single guest was met at the door by the friendly, welcoming staff, and I admit I got a tiny bit excited at the sound of the thick French accent of the restaurant manager as we were shown to our table (there’s nothing like an accent to add to the experience!). The interior of the bistro was chic, crisp and comfortable. The large windows provided the perfect framework to draw in the green of the surrounding gardens and the hills beyond of Main Ridge.
Aside from the full bistro menu on offer here, there is also a bar menu providing the perfect opportunity to graze away the afternoon while sipping on a Ten Minutes by Tractor wine (when in Rome!) or other wines from the region and abroad. Afterwards you might even want a coffee and pastry served amongst the greenery in the conservatory.
We dined on the full bistro menu for our lunch, every single dish was delicious and reflected flavours of the region, and the staff were knowledgable and attentive. My only complaint is that my stomach is not big enough, something I will gladly work on!
Highlights from the dishes sampled during our lunch, and in the order that they appear in the images below, were the Tarte à L’oignon (puff pastry onion tart, goat cheese, beetroot), Agneau en Croûte D’herbes (herb crusted lamb rump, pea puree, carrots, lamb jus); Salad de Chèvre (rocket, pomegranate, Red Hill Somers soft goats’ cheese) and the Filet de Truite Confite (confit ocean trout, braised lettuce, toasted almonds).
Petit Tracteur is open Thursday to Monday 11am to 5pm, and open again on Friday and Saturday evenings 6pm to 10pm.
