Trailblazer Award: Barragunda

Cape Schanck

On a coastal Mornington Peninsula farm, Barragunda can be experienced simply as a glorious long-lunch destination – but the restaurant also offers big ideas about growing food smarter, resource sharing and creating community.

Opened in February this year by philanthropist Hayley Morris in collaboration with chef Simone Watts, the restaurant sources nearly all ingredients from what’s grown on site using a co-op model rarely seen in the upper reaches of dining. Some vegetables are even sold to the local community via an online shop, also stocked with seedlings and native plants.

Watts lives on the farm and is closely connected to daily harvests. She uses obscure plant parts – sunflower stem and burnt onion skin – in waste-fighting menus that are oft-tweaked and almost never repeated. The Morris family owns the Cape Schanck property and all profits from the restaurant are diverted to the family’s foundation to support regenerative agriculture projects in a virtuous cycle.