Three unique restaurants to book a table at this Easter – each located within a Victorian wine region

Hosting Easter lunch or dinner is a huge undertaking – getting the house prepared, organising a menu that suits all your guests, cooking said meal, and then keeping everyone entertained before having to clean up. The desire to escape this hassle often leads folks to book a restaurant instead.

But where to go? For us, Easter doesn’t scream city centre restaurant. Nor should it be spent at a neighbourhood joint you go to all the time. We prefer to escape to a local wine region, celebrating this day looking out over rolling vineyards (perhaps even hitting up a cellar door afterwards).

To help you find and book a brilliant Easter out, we’ve rounded up three brilliant restaurants (all hatted) in the Yarra Valley and King Valley that host a mighty good lunch and dinner. Find them all here.

Brown Brothers

Once again, Brown Brothers is hosting its annual Easter Family Festival – filling its property with pop-up bars, festival food, live music, entertainment and interactive kids’ activities. There’ll even be an ‘innovation courtyard’ where guests can sample wines in the making. This big Easter festival is running across two days – Saturday, April 19 and Sunday, April 20 – but it isn’t the only reason to visit Brown Brothers.

During this festive period – just as always – folks can drop by the Brown Brothers hatted restaurant to tuck into its luxurious three- and five-course degustation. This menu is led by what is in season, in particular, what's been grown in the kitchen garden. Because of this, the prestigious menu changes daily.

We also recommend following this up with a jaunt over to its neighbouring cellar door to try some of the 40-plus wines (including back vintages), while snacking and looking out over the vineyard.

And have no fear about bringing the kids and pets along with you to these Easter celebrations. There’s an on-site playground for the young ones to play around, plus the dogs are provided with plenty of water, pats and the occasional treat. Visiting Brown Brothers is a no-brainer.

No. 7 Healesville

No. 7 Healesville has really raised the bar for drinking and dining in the Yarra Valley – forging ahead as one of the few hatted restaurants in the region. Seasonal dishes made with local ingredients, paired with a thoughtfully curated wine list, make this a really brilliant spot for Easter lunch or dinner. It really nails the essentials.

Moreover, as the only venue in the Yarra Valley with a dedicated focus on alternative varieties and organic wines, it is also a must-visit for wine lovers. The wine list champions biodynamic, organic, and low-intervention producers from both the local region and internationally. It is curated with intention – celebrating wines that reflect a true sense of place. You are sure to find some drops here that you've never had before.

And if you aren't a fan of noisy dining rooms, you can book out one of its two private dining spaces – helping you have a really intimate experience. The 10-person space is great for smaller groups, while the Barrel Room – surrounded by wine barrels and chandeliers – seats up to 48 guests and is incredibly special.

For an extra treat, guests anywhere in No. 7 can choose to begin or end the meal with a visit from the vintage aperitif and digestif cart, which is wheeled tableside for a touch of old-world charm. It's special touches like this that help make this venue perfect for a group celebration during the Easter break.

TarraWarra Estate

It’s hard to beat an Easter lunch or dinner spent at a winery’s hatted restaurant in the Yarra Valley. It ticks all of those luxury drinking and dining boxes – fine food, wine and scenery. And TarraWarra Estate has it all.

At TarraWarra's restaurant, head chef Maxwell Parlas and his team are plating up an excellent four-course set menu celebrating seasonal produce grown in the property’s own kitchen garden. Other local suppliers are called upon to round out the evolving menu, which includes an entirely plant-based offering. Winemaker Sarah Fagan has also teamed up with Maxwell to create the ever-evolving wine pairings, which showcases a selection of TarraWarra’s own wines.

All of this is served up within showstopping surrounds – sitting within the contemporary Alan Powell-designed building overlooking some of the winery’s 26 hectares of vines. It is one of the region’s top destinations, so we recommend also adding on a wine tasting experience or a visit to the cellar door when dropping by for your Easter celebrations.

Right now, having just picked the grapes for vintage 2025, you can even see and smell the wines fermenting in the barrel hall from its cellar door. This Easter weekend really is a brilliant time to visit TarraWarra Estate.

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