NOW EXPERIENCING:Ten Minutes by Tractor
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Ten Minutes by Tractor

Friday: 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM
1333 Mornington-Flinders Road, Main Ridge, VIC, 3928
Phone
(03) 5989 6455
Website
tenminutesbytractor.com.au
Instagram
@10xtractor

Read time 3 Mins

Posted 19 May 2023

By
Michael Harden

The full Ten Minutes by Tractor experience is destination dining, while the cellar door offers casual platters and the chance to try some of the Mornington Peninsula’s finest wines.

Ten minutes by tractor winery
Why you goTen Minutes by Tractor started life as a winery, named for its three Mornington Peninsula vineyards that are located within 10 minutes of each other as the tractor rolls. The winery’s output, particularly its estate-grown ranges of chardonnay and pinot noir, has long been critically acclaimed, but its restaurant (opened in 2006 and then reopened in 2019 after a fire the previous year) really lodged Ten Minutes on the radars of Victorian food lovers. This is not a stop-by-and-hope-for-a-table kind of place, though you can hang out with a glass of wine and a platter of cheese and cured meats on the cellar door’s terrace. But the full Ten Minutes experience is a serious and considered destination-dining offering with five- and seven-course tasting menus that include great local produce in the mix – everything from beetroot from its own kitchen garden to goat’s cheese and mussels from nearby producers. It also does it in a way that’s sophisticated, impressive and – best of all –  delicious. Add an 80-plus-page award-winning wine list that lines up the Ten Minutes collection with the great and glorious from the rest of the Mornington Peninsula, Australia and global wine regions, and you have multiple reasons to book ahead, set the GPS for Main Ridge and make a day of it.
Why you stayThe 2018 fire that damaged the restaurant building and destroyed a storage facility full of valuable wine was not Ten Minutes by Tractor’s finest moment, but the silver lining in that cloud was the superb refurbishment and upgrade of the restaurant building. The refresh of the original 1930s structure not only provided better access to the lush vineyard views, it also upgraded the new dining space with stone, marble, brass and timber and turbo-charged the once-poky, semi-open kitchen to gleaming state-of-the-art territory. It’s a lovely, serene room, enhanced by an impressive attention to detail in everything from napkins and crockery to glassware and lighting – the perfect setting for a very long lunch.
fine dine at ten minutes by tractor
wines served at ten minutes by tractor
What drink to orderThe wine list at Ten Minutes is the sort that may have any wine fanatics at your table uncontactable while they get lost in the great variety at their fingertips. There are sections of the menu devoted to the Jura region in France, Italian nebbiolo wines, Champagne and cabernet franc, plus a great round-up of some of the great benchmark wines of Australia. Good news for those without an encyclopaedic knowledge of wine is that the wine service here is superb and the by-the-glass list generous. All those glittery big names are very tempting, but the list also offers great vintages of Ten Minutes by Tractor wines by both glass and bottle, making this the ideal situation to see why the winery has so many trophies in its cabinet.
What to pair it withChef Hayden Ellis has an impressive CV that includes working with Heston Blumenthal in the UK and at hatted restaurants like Vue de Monde in Melbourne and brings the kind of elevated finesse you’d expect from such experience to the dishes on his tasting menus. The main decision for most is whether to opt for the seven- or five-course set menu, though there is also a vegetarian option available and various wine-matching choices (some focusing on local wines, others taking a global approach) before you can sit back, relax and let the food – perhaps quail served with a marron mousse or spanner crab served with crisp chicken and caviar – and the good times roll.
marron mousse or spanner crab served with crisp chicken and caviar
ten minutes by tractor’s mornington peninsula’s
Why we love it: Though Ten Minutes by Tractor has all the obvious trappings of fine dining, it also comes with a welcoming and friendly attitude that means the dining here is relaxing rather than intimidating.
Regular’s tipIt always takes some forward planning to land a table here, especially at lunch times. For that reason, the Friday and Saturday dinner services are a great option if you’ve left booking a little late and are thinking of making a weekend of it.
Don’t leave withoutStop by Ten Minutes by Tractor’s cellar door, a gorgeous space with a soaring, slatted-timber ceiling, to pick up a couple of cases and bring some of the Mornington Peninsula’s best stuff back home with you.
Who to takeIf you’re not a local and are coming to Main Ridge from a distance, the experience of eating at Ten Minutes by Tractor is going to be one that takes up a good part of your day, starting with the drive there and ending with the drive home. It’s a good thing to keep in mind when selecting your dining companions – this is a lovely, lengthy dining experience so choose wisely.
mornington peninsula’s finest wines
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In partnership with Melbourne Food & Wine Festival
Authour image
Michael HardenAfter 25 years writing about wine and food, Michael Harden is getting the hang of it.
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Drinks DirectoryWheelchair accessibleFancy occasionTakeawaysCellar DoorVego Food OptionsTop notch wine listRestaurantRegional VICDate night
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