Only a few years ago, Harcourt was a drive-through town on the Calder Highway enroute to Bendigo. Best known for its apples, roadside stalls – some private, some commercial – dotted the highway, with huts full of delicious, juicy, fresh-from-the-farm apples of multiple varieties, paid for via the good ol’ honesty system.
Fast forward to now, and the old highway still meanders through the town – less-trafficked due to the four-lane bypass freeway which has superseded it. And guess what? Instead of dying off, Harcourt is thriving, drawing visitors and new businesses like never before, and fast becoming a foodie haven (or is that heaven?) with an ever-expanding array of gastronomy experiences.
Follow the signs off the freeway, and head onto the main street, the old highway. There, prominently located, is Harcourt Produce and General Store, which is laden with locally made products of all varieties, from apple ciders to delicious jams to fresh-baked bread and so much more. Grab a table – if you’re lucky; this place is extremely popular for very good reason – order a coffee and a bite of honestly-cooked food made from regional ingredients, and then get your credit card ready because you are going to want to fill your bags! What a gem!
A new kid on the Harcourt block is actually a new kid on an old block. Le Coq Door has taken over the former Harcourt pub and serves succulent charcoal chicken (plus dagwood dogs and jam donuts!) with beer available on tap. The place is eclectic as the menu, with classic rock’n’roll ripping through the speakers, and host Andy is about the happiest chappie you will meet on your trip. Welcome? You betcha! Oh, and Andy and his wife Tina also own Adaption Wines which produces a variety of organic reds and whites using ancient Georgian winemaking processes dating back 8,000 years, involving terracotta pots, beeswax and beneath-ground burial. Yep, different alright! Ask Andy about this totally unique method, and a wee drop, when visiting Le Coq Door (Friday, Saturday and Sunday from lunch to late).
One of the original cidermakers in Harcourt, Michael Henry, is still making “real apples, real cider” beverages at Henry of Harcourt on the outskirts of the town. In a tiny tasting room, where you might have to call the farmhouse for them to come down, overlooking a cute Constable-like pond of ducks, you can sample their limited yet distinctive range of alcoholic ciders, each served with a story or two behind their creation. This is genuine producer-visitor engagement, and it doesn’t get more authentic than this.
There is more, lots more. Harcourt Valley Vineyards, Blackjack Wines, and Bress Wine, Cider & Produce are around the town, while Harcourt Perry & Cider Makers in nearby Barkers Creek and Sanctuary Hill Vineyard in Faraday enrich the local region’s offerings. Make sure you check before visiting as opening days and hours might be restricted. Producers without a farm gate outlet, such as Harcourt Preserves and Harcourt Gold Olive Oil, are likely to be stocked in the Harcourt Produce and General Store which really is a champion of local goods. The Harcourt Coolstore Café, in Coolstore Road, just past the overhead railway bridge, serves coffee, cake and light lunches weekdays mornigs, and word on the street (and maybe Facebook) is that Blumes Historic Bakery will re-open very soon – woo hoo!
In season, many farms, such as Blackwood Orchard and The Orchard Keepers, allow you on property to pick your own fruit, as fresh as you will ever get. Or if you head towards Castlemaine, a couple of kilometres along this road is The Little Red Apple Country Store – next to Harcourt Cider – stocking a veritable feast of local fruit, vegetables and other regional produce, which, like everything else around here, is straight-from-tree fresh and seasonal.
So these days, Harcourt is no longer just a drive-through town, thank goodness! It is a place to stop, smell the country air and taste the gastronomic delights that are in abundance right across this town. You will be enchanted, and more than satisfied!
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