From wedding guests to owners: The Daylesford restaurant built on a love of place

Twenty years ago, Jodi Flockhart had her wedding at Sault Restaurant, a venue surrounded by 100 acres of lavender fields and aromatic gardens. 

She loved it so much she bought the place, going on to run the business with her husband Damien Aylward.

🗣️: “My husband and I were actually married at Sault”, Flockhart told the Brolga. “We had fallen in love with the region, and we loved the idea of a tree change from our Melbourne life and the romance of raising our family in the country. So we bought the restaurant, and here we are 20 years later.” 

Flockhart found the restaurant through romance, but stayed for the joy of providing true nourishment and hospitality. 

💐The origin of Sault: The name, though conveniently condiment-adjacent, is derived from a French town in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region in the south of France. 

This French town is famed for its lavender, and the restaurant not only contains its own lavender fields but also an uncanny resemblance to the French countryside. The fountain at the entryway was flown in by the original owners from Paris.

🍅Festivities and feasts: Sault has played host to hundreds of weddings, and is surrounded by 100 acres of gardens used for celebration as well as in the kitchen. The menu is entirely seasonal.

• “I have always loved fresh food from the garden”, said Flockhart. “As a child, I would pick fresh strawberries and tomatoes from the garden and taste them with my eyes closed. It was sun-ripened food full of rich flavour.” 

💜 Hospitality from the heart: Flockhart said they treat visitors as though they are visiting the dining room of their own home. 

🗣️ “The ethos behind Sault is to nourish guests with a full farm-to-table experience and a feeling of reconnecting to nature and the beauty of eating with the seasons and eating for nourishment.”

Many ingredients featured on the menu are picked from the gardens that surround the venue, or come from local suppliers. A shining example is Meredith Farm goat ribs with carrot molasses, toasted hemp seed and pickled Padron pepper with sheep’s milk labneh and advieh. 

🗣️: “We have planted our own seasonal flower fields and picking garden. We love to share the importance of nurturing with our guests, and the joy of sharing what we have made with our own hands.” 

• “As a husband and wife that work together, we want to create a place our children can be proud of, and so they can learn the importance of “it takes a village” of good, kind and creative souls”, said Flockhart.

• “When you eat seasonally, food has ripened fully and the tastes and nutrients are at their fullest.” 

🥄 Want a taste? Sault is a day trip worth taking, open for dinner Wednesday to Saturday, and lunch on the weekends. 

If you’re looking for adventures in West Vic that only take a day, head here.