From Wednesday, 5 June, the Royal Mail Hotel, Dunkeld, will celebrate the serene beauty of the coolest season with the quintessential winter escape, featuring a winter-exclusive Saturday lunch service at critically acclaimed fine dining restaurant, Wickens at the Royal Mail Hotel, a menu of heartwarming gastronomic delights at Parker St Project, in-room libraries curated by leading Australian authors and stargazing resources to take in the glittering night sky.
“We’re bringing together everything we love about winter In Dunkeld, encouraging guests to embrace the stillness of the winter season with us. It’s a time to stop and reset, whiling away the afternoon over a long leisurely lunch with loved ones or indulging in a good book and glass of wine,” says Royal Mail Hotel Director John Jerome Myers.
Served complimentary in Parker St Project from 3pm-5pm, a steaming glass of spice-laden mulled wine or boozy hot chocolate will greet guests upon arrival, best enjoyed beside the roaring fireplace. Throughout their limited season, patrons can tuck into pine mushroom and gruyère jaffles at the bar or nestle into cosy blankets and satisfy their sweet tooths under the stars, huddling around woodfires on the deck to roast marshmallows to golden-brown, gooey perfection.
Those staying in the Deluxe One Bedroom Mount Sturgeon Cottages can indulge in this experience in the privacy of their secluded accommodation, located three kilometres away from the hotel proper within the verdant 91-hectare Mount Sturgeon Biodiversity Reserve. Each cottage will be stocked with Grounded Pleasures marshmallows and Mork drinking chocolate, plus wines from the award-winning Royal Mail cellar.
Keen stargazers are encouraged to reserve the hotel’s telescope, which can be set up in-room or on the patio by the lovely staff, with First Nations astronomy literature on hand to guide them. Each cottage’s shelves will also be stocked with an array of books selected with fireside reading in mind by celebrated Australian authors, including Christos Tsiolkas, Tony Birch, Anita Heiss, Garry Disher, Nam Le, Sophie Cunningham and Cate Kennedy.
Throughout the midyear chill, weekend visitors have the opportunity to indulge in the Royal Mail Hotel’s hallmark experience, Wickens, over a relaxed Saturday lunch with breathtaking views of Mount Sturgeon as Executive Chef Robin Wickens takes them on a tasting journey through Dunkeld’s microclimate. Winter yields hearty brassicas and root vegetables from the 1.2-hectare organic kitchen garden, which supplies up to 80% of Wickens’ produce, realised on the plate as dishes like Royal Mail beef, chicory root, salt-baked beetroot and shiitake mushroom sauce, or Acorn mousse, coffee, salted caramel and rotten leaf ice cream.
Guests visiting in mid-June can complement the Royal Mail Hotel’s extensive experience offering – including the Kitchen Garden Tour, Cellar Tour and Native Wildlife Feeding Tour – with a one-off Mushroom Foraging Tour. Hosted on Sunday, 16 June, the walking tour will explore the Kitchen Garden and Dunkeld’s Arboretum, among various secret spots around the regional town, with insights and guidance from mushroom foraging expert Paul ‘Speedy’ Speed.
“Foraging is a practice our chefs love taking part in. Wild mushrooms impart such a wonderful earthy richness to our menu throughout winter, and the thrill of discovery is never lost on us. It’s nature’s reward,” says Wickens.
For more info, visit www.royalmailhotel.com.au
