DAN HUNTER

DUNKELD, a charming one-horse town in a sheep-farming district roughly 270 km west of Melbourne, is unknown to many Australians, let alone overseas visitors in search of interesting food. But in the space of less than nine months, Dan Hunter, an Australian chef with a bold culinary vision and unwavering determination to build a unique, world class contemporary restaurant, has created a destination to dine for.

A talent with Hunter's pedigree - he spent four years in Spain, the last of them as the head chef at Mugaritz, a storied two-Michelin star restaurant featuring the creative, nature-based cuisine of Andoni Luis Aduriz - would have no problem working in any major city, but instead he chose to move to the culinary equivalent of Timbuktu.

He may have had his initial doubts, but since opening at the Royal Mail, a contemporary country hotel in the Southern Grampians with a certain sense of style and dramatic views of the mountains in the distance, Hunter's restaurant has started to attract culinary pilgrims from Melbourne and places much farther away. Even now, at this early stage, the food is simply too good to ignore.

Hunter's career started at 22 with a job at a pub in Bath, England, while he was travelling the world. In 1998 he apprenticed at a fine dining restaurant in Melbourne, then decided to seriously pursue a career as a chef. He moved to Barcelona when he read about the new wave of Spanish restaurants, spearheaded by the likes of El Bulli.

He endured some difficult times but persevered and eventually landed a non-paying job, and then a paying one, at Mugaritz, working his way up to become sous chef and finally head chef. That's when he realised he had the skills to do something significant. Now, at 34, his goal is to turn Dunkeld (population: 400) and the Royal Mail restaurant into a culinary outpost of the highest order - different from anything previously seen in Australia.

Hunter was recruited by sommelier Lok Thornton, who had been asked by Royal Mail owner Allan Myers, a noted QC, head of the largest private landowner in the country - and a noted wine collector - to remake Dunkeld into a fine dining destination. Hunter says the owners told him they wanted the best restaurant in Australia, without knowing exactly what that meant.

'I thought they were crazy,' says Hunter. 'Then I came here, had a look, and was surprised at what was happening.' The owners were providing the necessary means to turn the idea into reality. Also, the location meant that the restaurant would have proximity to fresh produce, including garden vegetables, herbs and lamb farming. Crucially, a seafood supplier could also stop by on his runs between Adelaide and Melbourne.

All this meant that Hunter could have his own vegetable gardens, control over his produce and direct access to many suppliers - very similar to the situation at Mugaritz. Plus he had access to one of the best wine cellars in the country - the multi-million-dollar wine list at Royal Mail runs to a staggering 43 pages and contains some rare vintages that won't be found anywhere else.

'We have the Grampians, the hotel, rich volcanic soil, a great wine list and innovative cuisine,' says Hunter. 'I've had no trouble getting kitchen staff - chefs recognise that we are doing something special here.'

He adds: 'It's creative cuisine using modern technology - but only if it gives me a better result than traditional cooking methods. We are not caught up in fashion or technique - we are driven foremost by the seasons and by the produce. The style of food is very unique to this country - I'm cooking so that people have an experience, to give them something that they can't have anywhere else.'

Hunter's words are more than backed up by his cuisine, the freshest produce possible given the type of sophisticated kitchen treatment that wouldn't be out of place in a Michelin-star establishment. Here in a small Australian town, the combination is delightfully surreal.

Like Mathias Dahlgren's restaurant in Stockholm, the culinary offerings at the Royal Mail include a fine dining section and a cafe serving more conventional - though no less delicious - cuisine. Plans are under way to renovate the dining room so there is more of a separation between the two restaurant spaces, and should be complete by the end of the year.

At a recent tasting, the opening dishes included a salad of heirloom dishes - literally the delicious tail end of the season. There was rock lobster with white gazpacho and orange blossom; a stunning consomme with a difference - smoked tuna broth with herbs, mushrooms and flowers; zucchini flowers, and de-boned chicken wings served with a slow-cooked egg yolk, dehydrated olive and polenta.

A dish of grilled calamari with black rice showed a perfect balance of taste, flavour, texture and colour. It was followed by a roasted hapuka fish with fennel, pork and yabbie. The presentations are pretty but never over-elaborate. 'As we get better, we're going to put less and less on the plate,' says Hunter, who has an uncanny sensitivity to the ingredients he works with. 'The ultimate thing is to be able to show just one thing, and people go, 'Wow'.'

Outside, heavy lorries drive past regularly on the way to a major city, but the Royal Mail is no ordinary truck stop. 'There's a growing movement of modern cuisine with a soul,' says Hunter. 'It's a small revolution in Aussie food, and what's happening in Europe is becoming more accessible to Australians. I just love the simplicity, the purity, the true flavour of things.'

The Royal Mail Hotel
Glenelg Highway
Parker Street
Dunkeld, Victoria.
Tel: +61 3 55772241.
www.royalmail.com.au

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