La Dolce Vita at Farm Vigano
Imagine a restaurant perched on the edge of a wooded gorge. Then imagine the most exquisite Italian food served by the most attentive and hospitable wait staff as you gaze over this stunning landscape.
If you visit Farm Vigano, a restaurant and function venue overlooking the Plenty River Gorge in Melbourne, this is your reality.
We first visited with the kids back in January and as soon as we arrived we knew we had to return to celebrate my Mum's birthday.
(Pic above via www.instagram.com/farmviganorestaurant.)
Farm Vigano was once the home of restaurateur Mario Vigano and his artist wife Maria Theresa Vigano. Decades on and thanks to two modern restaurateurs, Farm Vigano is dedicated to preserving the art of true Italian food and culture. We met David, one of the owners, yesterday and he couldn’t have been a more gracious or hospitable host.
Farm Vigano is a place for celebration. While we celebrated my mum's birthday yesterday we spotted a wedding in the downstairs function room, a Christening upstairs in the main restaurant along with an anniversary lunch and numerous groups celebrating birthdays. There was even one group in the restaurant celebrating a gender reveal with their family (it’s a boy!).
It is also incredibly family-friendly, with 16-acres of beautiful Heritage grounds and even a tennis court for the kids to explore and enjoy in between courses.
For yesterday's lunch I wanted to carry Farm Vigano’s gorgeous yellow and white stripe theme through to the table with yellow tulips for a pop of colour and some pretty striped straws, napkins and cups from Sambellina.
An Aperol Spritz was a fabulous start to our celebratory lunch. We then grazed for three hours on some of the most delicious Italian food I have ever had.
We started with three share plates: buttermilk fried chicken tenderloins with a mustard mayonnaise, arancini (filled with the most amazing Bolognese ragu) and flash fried calamari with a lemon mayonnaise. Delicious!
We then moved on to some pizze to share; the Bufala e prosciutto (San Marzano, Italian buffalo mozzarella) and Gamberi (San Marzano, fior di latte, tiger prawns, baby spinach & mini roma tomato). The kids were happily catered for with a margarita pizza and some French fries.
Our two main courses were the most delicious braised, slow-cooked leg of lamb with salsa verde and some melt-in-your-mouth baby snapper fillets. SO good!
For sides we had a rocquette, pine nuts & grana padano salad, broccolini with garlic and chilli and the yummiest twice-cooked roasted potatoes with garlic and rosemary.
For Dessert - or as Farm Vigano calls it ‘La Dolce Vita’ - we enjoyed a dessert board with sweet ricotta, candied fruit & pistachio Cannoli and lemon curd tarts. We also had to try Farm Vigano’s Tiramisu (the birthday girl’s favourite) and the kids polished off warm molten chocolate pudding with vanilla bean ice-cream. Ava announced that this was ‘too good to share’! The desserts truly were a brilliant finale to an unforgettable meal.
My family is already planning our next visit to Farm Vigano and if you haven’t been, it is an absolute must-visit.
Farm Vigano is open for lunch Tuesday - Sunday from 11am and for dinner Thursday – Sunday from 6pm till late.
Farm Vigano has two function rooms available. The smaller Gala Room downstairs opens up to a gorgeous private terrace and fits 60 people for a sit down function or 100 for a cocktail style function. The main gala room can accommodate up to 130 guests for a sit down event or up to 200 guests for a cocktail style function. Group bookings can also be made in the main restaurant.
Click here to view further information about hosting events at Farm Vigano.
Farm Vigano
10 Bushman’s Way, South Morang 3752
+61 3 9407 1212
ciao@farmvigano.com.au
