O.MY is the restaurant of brothers Blayne (chef, on the left) and Chayse (sommelier, on the right) Bertoncello in Beaconsfield, about 45 minutes from downtown Melbourne. They started the restaurant back in 2013, when they were only 19 and 23 years old. All the fruits, vegetables, eggs, and honey that is used in the restaurant comes from a farm in nearby Cardinia that is run by a very close friend. The meat, seafood, flour, and dairy is sourced from producers across Victoria.

The restaurant is somewhat of a hidden gem, even though it is listed as one of the best restaurants in regional Victoria. The guy who checked us in at the campsite that is very close to the restaurant had never heard of it, and from the outside it is hard to tell that the best fine dining establishment in the area is listed here. Especially as you zoom out:

The restaurant offers a 7 course tasting menu (AU$ 230 with alcoholic pairing for AU$ 130 and non-alcoholic pairing for AU$ 90) or a 4 course tasting menu (AU$ 165 with pairing for AU$ 95/AU$ 60). We opted for the 7 courses.

We started the pairing with a 2021 ‘blush’ (rosé) sparkling by Eck Wines from the Macedon Ranges (Victoria, Australia), 55% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir, made like a champagne.

This was a good pairing for the snacks. A crispy ring of pastry with buttermilk, horseradish, and seasonal flowers. Warragal greens skewered on a sprig of rosemary and then barbecued, brushed with chicken fat (amazing). A tartlet with duck ragout, blackcurrant, beetroot, and red wine vinegar.

And zoom in on the Gazander oyster with meyer lemon, verbena, and oyster plant leaves. The oyster had been deep fried in sourdough batter and served in a pastry shell that looked like an oyster. Both beautiful and delicious.

We continued with house made sourdough bread with house churned butter and witlof root salt. The levain for the sourdough has been maintained since the start of the restaurant. The bread had great texture and a pleasant slightly sour aroma (I don’t like ‘German’ sourdough bread that is very sour and tough).

The second wine was a 2024 Crawford River Riesling from Henty (Victoria, Australia) with a very nice balanced acidity.

It was an excellent pairing for the variations of zucchini with fresh cheese curds, basil pesto, and coriander flowers. The dish had a great balance of textures (crunchy zucchini but not too crunchy with creamy cheese curds) and flavors. The acidity of the dish and the wine were great together.

The third wine was a 2016 Chardonnay by Paternoster from Cardinia (Victoria, Australia). Nicely aged, complex, and round.

It was a remarkably good pairing for the fresh egg pasta (with eggs from the farm) in pork stock with braised young onions and chives flowers. Remarkable because the dish was very elegant and you’d expect the wine to be too robust, but in fact the dish gave a very nice boost to the wine and brought out its complexity.

The wine pairing continued with a Pinot Gris ‘on skins’ by Fleet from Mornington Peninsula (Victoria, Australia). Same grape variety and producer as a rosé Pinot Gris we had yesterday, but a completely different wine due to 21 days of skin contact (to get more color and texture), 100% malolactic (to soften the acidity), and aging in oak barrels with stirring of the lees (for a creamy texture). This may be the best ‘orange wine’ I have ever tasted, with great balance and complexity.

This was an excellent pairing with the Australian herring with young lettuce, Vietnamese mint, and a butter sauce with green beans. The fish was very crispy without being dry. The wine was a remarkably good pairing with the butter sauce (but makes sense because of the aging in barrels with stirring of the lees and malo).

We continued with the 2023 Pinot Noir by Bindi from the Macedon Ranges (Victoria, Australia). A bit young and therefore served decanted. The wine had nice texture, but I think it will develop more aroma with some bottle aging.

This was a very good pairing for the neck of lamb with shallots, salty ice plant, garlic, ground ivy, and rosemary. The lamb had been cooked sous vide and was very tender and succulent.

The second red wine was a 2023 Georgia’s Paddock Nebbiolo by Jasper Hill from Heathcote (Victoria, Australia). This has nothing to do with Nebbiolo from the Langhe in Italy and was a bit young (and served decanted). It seemed more like a very ripe version of Nebbiolo from Valtellina, with good structure without being too tannic.

It was a good pairing for the pork shoulder with apple core sauce, radish, sweet carrot puree, and fennel. The radishes were nicely mild (not as aggressive as Dutch radishes). The best part of this dish was the crispy pork crackling that was served as a ‘crumble’ on top of the extremely tender and succulent pork. Pork crackling can sometimes be chewy, but by serving it as a crumble it was wonderfully crisp and fluffy.

The final pairing was a spring rhubarb vermut from the same producer from Victoria as the red vermut we had at Saint Peter in Sydney.

The pre-dessert was rhubarb with labna, whey granita, dill flowers, and farm honey. Rhubarb can be very astringent, but this was wonderful and a good pairing with the vermut.

The dessert was strawberry ice cream with crispy sourdough offcuts, chamomile, blackberry, and more strawberries. Very nice and again a good pairing.

And finally blueberry tartlets with buttermilk, pomegranate vinegar, and thyme.

Wow, what a meal. All the dishes and all the wines and wine pairings were excellent. The service was also excellent and very friendly, with some humor as well. It was very clear that not only the two brothers but also the other people that work here are really enjoying what they are doing. Michelin does not rate restaurants in Australia, but I’d say O.MY should get two Michelin stars. It is a shame it is something like 17,000 kilometers from home, or I’d surely come here often.