Time slows at this 141-year-old pub in a quiet pocket of Victoria

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If you follow the Warburton Highway as it winds east, through temperate rainforest and alongside the Yarra River, the red-brick and grey-gabled Alpine Hotel is one of the first buildings you’ll reach as you enter Warburton township. Perched atop a hillock, it makes an impressive and welcoming sentinel.

You pop in and, after a warm greeting, you may be lucky enough to be seated at one of the north-facing windows, the best spot for people-watching. Outside, locals mix with hikers, trail runners, cyclists and activewear-clad tourists who are here to absorb the sights, sounds and clean air of this quiet pocket of Victoria.

If those prime seats are taken (better to book ahead) – or if you’re averse to stilling views of mountainsides that dapple with shadow as the evening suffuses the sky with pinks and blues and mauves, and the air fills with wood smoke and raucous cockatoos and kookaburras – consider your other seating options. The Alpine contains within its stately ground level a beer garden with occasional live music, a family-friendly bistro, a semi-private child-free dining area, and a dog-friendly atrium that is an airy light-well in the daytime.

Apart from weekend peaks, time seems to slow to a luxuriating pace here, which may be due to the natural surrounds, the recent and respectful refurbishment of the 1885 hotel by current owners Rachael and Anthony Northwood, or perhaps the icy Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin martini in hand.

If I’m sounding like a real estate or travel agent, it’s because I believe place and context are crucial to dining. The Alpine’s chef, James Holdom, is with me on that, taking every opportunity to showcase ingredients from local producers. A pub staple like the burger doesn’t skip a beat with its Yarra Valley grass-fed wagyu beef patty, topped with smoked mozzarella. The burger sauce and pickled zucchini are both made in house. (“I don’t like shortcuts,” Holdom says.)

The free-range chicken parma is topped with ham from Ballarat’s Salt Kitchen Charcuterie carved off the bone in the kitchen. An accompanying Hargreaves Hill pale ale or Watts River IPA continue the local theme, as does much of the wine list. For those who prefer a clearer head, there are non-alcoholic beers, spirits and cocktails, as well as soft drinks and juices.

Holdom’s farm-to-table principles are a sustained way of daily life rather than anything faddish. Growing up on a property in the Hunter Valley, helping his father cook whatever they raised on their land, attuned him to the rhythms of life on the land. Experiences further afield as an adult appear as cameos on the menu.

Take the Gippsland brisket, a tender carrier of five-spice, star anise, coriander and other echoes of Taiwan. Steamed rice, pickled cucumber and grilled sugarloaf cabbage round out the plate.

Other dishes weave references to the Arabian peninsula, the Indian subcontinent and East Asia into what is otherwise a classic gastropub repertoire. For the vegetable-inclined, pan-fried polenta’s crisp surface is matched by the crunch of just-charred zucchini, then counterbalanced by almond cream. A flurry of herbs, shaved fennel, red onion, smoked tomatoes and dehydrated black olives add up to a fresh, texturally complex dish. Like most of the menu, it will change as autumn vegetables come into their prime.

It’s rare that a pub dessert is worth writing about, but a goat’s curd cheesecake with macadamia, white sesame and coconut was well-balanced and harmonious. (Bonus points for the effort of cutting strawberries on an angle, a la the Japanese rangiri cut.)

If you decide to spend the night in one of the rooms upstairs and catch the Saturday or Sunday morning buffet breakfast, you’ll wake up to a multitude of cooked and cold options, pastries, coffee from Silva Roasters in town, and a delicious fruit salad to round off your visit. Warburton and surrounds come into their own in the cooler months, and the Alpine’s breakfast heralds a wholesome day ahead in the outdoors.

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