Luxury Travel Gold List Article

Author: Madelin Tomelty
December 2024

Nature & Nurture

Pioneers in Australia’s farm-to-table culinary scene, the Wolf-Tasker family deliver impeccable dining and relaxation in equal measure across their Daylesford spa-country properties.

“If you love someone, you feed them”

When life gives you lemons, they say, make lemonade. But in tumultuous 2020, Dairy Flat Farm in Daylesford did one better – they took lemons… and they made bread. More specifically, the recently-opened farmhouse property converted the existing basement into a bakehouse. And they laboured over slow-fermented sourdough, and croissants, and pain-au-chocolat…

The indefatigable Wolf-Tasker family behind iconic Victorian gourmet hotel, Lake House in Daylesford spa country, added the 16-hectare Dairy Flat Farm and accompanying, exquisitely-renovated six-bedroom house to its portfolio in December 2019, just months before Covid struck. Thankfully, the bad luck ended there. Together with the team behind Lake House, they used the ensuing lull period during Victoria’s seemingly never-ending lockdowns to establish and solidify the new bakehouse, where the skilled chefs mixed, kneaded and rolled sweet and savoury delights that could be sold at Daylesford’s Sunday Market – and then be supplied to Lake House, Dairy Flat Farm and Wombat Hill House Café kitchens post-lockdown.

“It gave us time to work on the Dairy Flat Farm model, establish the gardens more, clean it all up”, explains Larissa Wolf-Tasker, brand manager and daughter of Lake House matriarch and culinary director Alla Wolf-Tasker AM. They also turned their attention to the ‘OG’: Lake House – celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2024 – and planned for its July 2023 renovation.

As we chat on the hotel’s refreshed, sumptuous library on a frigid evening in early winter, Larissa tells me 46 per cent of their current clientele are returning guests. I don’t get to say what a wonderful birthday present that is, though, because a flavour explosion is unfolding in my mouth: a mini doughnut that melts on the tongue, its centre filled with popping pearls of salty caviar. I know I am in for a delicious weekend.

FARM TO FORK
This is a team as resourceful in business as they are in gastronomy – and, if you know Lake House’s history, this will come as no surprise. After all, Alla – along with her late husband, celebrated artist Allan Wolf-Tasker- not only put the sleepy mineral springs town of Daylesford on the map – she also put Australian regional fine dinging on the map.

Inspired by the restaurant of provincial France, where she trained, Alla pioneered refined farm-to-table dinging when she and Allan opened Lake House Restaurant in 1984. The only thing that was still missing after 35 years of Lake House Restaurant, was the farm – where the fresh produce used in seasonally-driven dish could be grown and harvested, before being whipped up into something delicious.

Located just 10-minutes from Lake House in the hamlet of Musk, Dairy Flat Farm follows regenerative and organic practices, with two hectares dedicated to vegetable, herb and flower gardens. Heirloom carrots, beets and pumpkins are pulled straight from the soil; there are hoop houses filled with tomato vines; and rows of lettuce greens and herbs of all varieties are ready to be plucked and turned into delicacies that give all new meaning to ‘farm fresh’.

The orderly, 300-tree orchard of apple, pear, stone fruit, quince and medlar trees are burdened with fruit each season – and this year’s first apple harvest was turned in cider. The team, embracing a ‘waste not, want not’ ethos, also frequently pickles, ferments and makes jam with their bounty.

There are a few British White cows from regenerative farm, Brooklands, who supplies Lake House Restaurant (and whose owner once worked at Lake House), along with chickens, geese, guinea fowls, alpacas, sheep, peacocks and bees buzzing inside seven hives, busily making honey for their queen.

Not to mention, the established 250-tree olive grove – fresh from its first batch of olive oil when I visit, plus the two-hectare vineyard with its pinot noir and chardonnay plantings, and the spring-fed dam where guests can fish for fresh-water trout. And then there’s the wildlife – wombats, kangaroos, wallabies and around 26 species of native birds call Dairy Flat Farm and surrounds their home.

As if that wasn’t enough, the hedgerow ornamental gardens add a sprinkle of whimsy, with stone cherubs and ornate iron gates-to-nowhere making me feel like I’ve entered an enchanted fairy garden.

HEART IN THE HOME
As for the lodge itself, if you’ve ever had dreams of doing up an old house and turning it into a country estate, there’s no need to do any research: simply call Larissa, who apparently wrote the manual. The property is magnificent – grand and cosy, refined and relaxed, comforting and luxurious all at once. It’s the type of place that would be breath-taking in the summer (verdant views, open windows, hot-tub time in the evening) as it is in the early winter (roaring fireplace, cosy reading nooks, relaxing baths).

Deep lounged by the crackling fire invite me to take a beat in this embracing retreat the moment I step through the doors. I’m drawn to the fabulous turquoise country-style kitchen and Allan’s optimistic, vibrant artworks of the Australian landscape adorning the walls. The William morris-esque wallpaper int eh little library and plush patterned rugs underfoot add an air of vintage romance, and each king bedroom emanates a country elite-style sophistication with its expansive proportions, layers of elegant textiles and a luxurious ensuite. Everything is brand-new and immaculate, with furniture commissioned by local artisans. And yet the feeling is of being right at home in a good friend’s treasured abode.

IF YOU LOVE SOMEONE, FEED THEM
Alla grew up in Melbourne during the 1950’s, the daughter of Russian immigrants. “She grew up in a household where they didn’t have an awful lot, but it was quality over quantity, and you contributed to the table”, says Larissa. “You were invited to dinner whenever you wanted, but everybody contributed,. You either baked or brewed or you pickled or you made something. If you love someone, you feed them.”

This idea, that you should treat your guests like family, is what makes the experience if staying at Dairy Flat Farm so special. The live-in Lodge Concierge embodies the Wolf-Tasker family’s unique style of authentic and heartfelt hospitality by tending to my every whim: Fetching the delicious meals from Lake House kitchens and serving them family-style at the communal table, whipping up a full country breakfast each morning, pouring wine, mixing cocktails and lighting the fire. If Lake House Daylesford is where you go to dine on some of the most exquisite seasonally-driven food in Australia, then Dairy Flat Farm is, I decided, where you go afterwards, to rest and retreat – just as one desires a lie-down following an unforgettable Christmas lunch. Staying at both properties during a single visit to Daylesford is a no-brainer for those seeking n indulgent country escape.

LUXURY BY THE LAKE
Not that Lake House Daylesford is lacking opportunities to rest or retreat, either. During my stay here I experience an excellent massage in the Lake House Spa by therapist Michael, who Larissa tells me is a healer (many are drawn to Daylesford by is therapeutic mineral waters). At the end of my treatment Michael hugs me and tells me I have a lovely energy. I don’t tell him that it’s probably being at Lake House that is making it thus.

My Atrium Villa – one of the most exclusive lodgings on site – boasts apartment-sized proportion, with a separate living and dining area, gas fireplace, kitchen, desk and an oversized ensuite with bath and underfloor heating. Tucked behind a gate on the grounds and with views of the lake beyond, it is also one of the most private rooms available.

But as beautiful as my accommodation is, it’s my stomach, not my eyes, taking charge on this particular trip. I have heard about multi-award winning, Two Chefs-Hatted Lake House Restaurant for longer than I can remember. Now, finally, I understand what all the fuss is about and why the Wolf-Tasker family is so highly regarded and respected in the Australian gastronomy scene.

Over two decadent evenings, head chef Brandon Walsh delivers what seems like every succulent protein available on Earth over four courses, always balanced perfectly with in-season vegetables, herbs, and greens from the farm. Hand-picked Cooktown mud crab, Jamon paleta, aqua Murray cod, Sher Wagyu F1 tenderloin… and so much more. All are cooked to perfection, and by the end of the second course I’m certain Lake House Restaurant has delivered two of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had. As for the wine- with an unfathomable 13,000 bottles to choose from, including new-and-old vintages and many from boutique Australian producers – it helps to have a sommelier on hand, matching the perfect drop with every course.

SWEET DREAM
Back at Dairy Flat Farm, there are fluffy pink roses, strands of aromatic lavender and golden discs of calendula floating in my ensuite’s clawfoot bath. It has been run by the massage therapist who has dedicated 60 minutes to unravelling the knot in my shoulders (again) in the privacy of my suite. There is a bottle of champagne chilling on ice, with a crystal coupe that appears all the more indulgent for its singularity.; out the window is a bucolic view straight from the pages of an English storybook. It is whisper quiet.

I need to get out soon to do some work before dinner. But if I have learnt anything from my time at Lake House and Dairy Flat Farm, it’s that nothing should go to waste. So another champagne it is. The emails can wait.