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ezard @ Levantine Hill

Announcement posted by Levantine Hill 16 Sep 2014

The perfect partnership of food & wine
Officially announced today, the new gastronomic partnership between celebrated Melbourne and Sydney hatted chef Teage Ezard and Levantine Hill Estate will take contemporary dining to a new level in the Yarra Valley.

For the first time ever, Teage Ezard will take his famed gourmet experience outside the city limits and offer locals and visitors to the Yarra Valley the perfect dining match with Levantine Hill’s critically acclaimed wines.

The new restaurant, ezard @ Levantine Hill, is stage three (of five) of a new multi-million dollar investment that will be an architectural attraction positioned along the Maroondah Highway. The venue will be world class in all respects, from its food and wine offering, to its breathtaking design which includes a cellar door and plans for a future state-of-the-art wine making facility.

Teage Ezard believes ezard @ Levantine Hill will be a truly unique experience for food lovers, taking advantage of local seasonal produce as well as an on-site garden to create a rich menu of regional tastes.

“This is a truly wonderful opportunity and one that I immediately jumped at. What Levantine Hill is achieving with its vision for creating something special in the Yarra Valley, and indeed Australia, is really exciting,” he said.

The architectural style for the new restaurant and cellar door has been designed by the renowned Fender Katsalidis Architects.

“The cellar door takes inspiration from the magnificent surrounding Yarra Valley landscape with its sweeping curved expression blending softly into the rolling hill forms. Internally, the wines and Teage Ezard’s food will be presented within a rich timber environment referencing wine barrels and capturing the stunning bucolic vineyard views”, architect Karl Fender said.

The owners of Levantine Hill Estate, Elias and Colleen Jreissati welcome the addition of prestigious chef Teage Ezard to join their Levantine Hill Estate family.

“What Levantine Hill Estate is striving to achieve will be unique in the Yarra Valley and having ezard @ Levantine Hill as part of our winery is the crowning glory. We were recently encouraged by a comment from esteemed wine critic James Halliday who described what Levantine Hill has planned as ‘the most ambitious project in the Yarra Valley since the establishment of Domaine Chandon a quarter of a century ago’. People all over the world are looking for inspiring and satisfying experiences. We believe if we create something special, the people will come,’’ Mr. Jreissati said.

“Both Levantine Hill Estate and Teage Ezard share a passion for superlative quality and a bold vision, and this new partnership promises to make an impressive impact on the Australian gastronomic scene and, once all stages are complete, help entice more than 100,000 visitors annually to the Yarra Valley. This will become a ‘must visit’ destination for those wanting to enjoy exemplary architecture, impeccable food and exceptional quality wines,’’ he said.

Levantine Hill Estate wines were launched just 18 months ago and have already achieved 5-star winery status in the Australian Wine Companion. Teage Ezard is renowned as one of Australia’s leading chefs and has presented his contemporary Australian cuisine for 20 years, once again being awarded two chef’s hats in The Age Good Food Guide 2015. With the space personally designed by Karl Fender of Fender Katsalidis Architects, it is sure to attract both gastronomes and admirers of avant-garde architecture.

For more information please contact: Stephen Dabkowski, Blue Dot Media, 0419880486

Fact Sheet

Fender Katsalidis Architects
This internationally-renowned and multi-award-winning practice designed Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art, Melbourne’s Eureka Tower and The Bendigo Art Gallery. Founding Director Karl Fender has personally designed Levantine Hill’s cellar door and restaurant.

Levantine Hill
With its wines being launched just 18 months ago, Levantine Hill has already been rated 5-stars by the Australian Wine Companion, received Huon Hooke’s Gold Ribbon and has been nominated to represent Australia in the invitation-only Six Nations Wine Challenge. The wines have been listed on some of Australia’s most exclusive wine lists such as Vue de Monde, Flower Drum, MoVida, The Town Mouse, Maha, Ezard, ARIA Restaurant, China Lane, Bondi Icebergs, Guillaume at Bennelong, The Star’s BLACK by ezard, The Source at MONA, Smolt, and The Henry Jones Art Hotel. Levantine Hill has also gained status in the United Kingdom, being served at Michelin-starred restaurant Outlaw’s at The Capital, and L’Metro Wine Bar at The Levin Hotel. Levantine Hill Estate wines are exquisitely crafted by legendary Yarra Valley winemaker 
Paul Bridgeman.

New “ezard @ Levantine Hill” cellar door and restaurant
The venture is expected to attract more than 100,000 visitors to the Yarra Valley annually, to employ more than 40 staff, and contribute more than $6 million to the local economy. Along with more than 30 established cellar doors, Levantine Hill hopes to contribute to the Yarra Valley by becoming the premier gastronomic destination in Australia.

The Ezard Group
Ezard in Flinders Lane has been a Melbourne icon since 1999, achieving Best New Restaurant in The Age Good Food Guide. In 2003, Teage Ezard was awarded Chef of the Year. His international renown grew with the launch of Opia and Y's in Hong Kong. In 2006, The Ezard Group launched Gingerboy and 2011 saw Ezard expand to Sydney, opening BLACK by ezard as part of The Star's multi-million dollar redevelopment.

Yarra Valley
The Yarra Valley has a history stretching back 160 years and boasts an enviable reputation as one of the world's great food and wine regions. It is just 45 kilometers east of Melbourne's CBD and includes 146 growers (with 2,492 hectares under vine), bordered by the towns of Gembrook in the south, Kinglake in the north, Wantirna in the west and Mount Gregory in the east.