News Exceptional dining at Messmates

Warragul’s Messmates Dining is gaining rave reviews for a refined dining experience, which combines Michelin-star skill and deep local roots for a culinary match made in heaven.

Behind an understated corner façade in the heart of Warragul, Messmates’ Euro-leaning bistro and wine bar reverberates with a gentle hum. Diners meet and mingle over fresh Gippsland seafood, lamb, beef and locally grown veg, all washed down with the finest local and imported wines.

Messmates Dining is run by siblings Chris and Jodie Odrowaz, and their respective partners Jess Odrowaz and Michael Clark. These messy mates have long loved cooking up a storm together, entertaining friends over shared plates, good wine and all the mess that goes along with it. They’d often joked about opening their own place to share this love of good food and now this dream has become a reality. Jesting aside though, this talented quartet have some serious combined hospo cred and deep roots in the local food landscape.

Locals may see some familiar faces at the front of house, with Chris and Jess Odrowaz formerly of popular Warragul eatery Main Street, at the helm. Meanwhile in the kitchen, chefs Michael Clark and Jodie Odrowaz (The Age Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year 2019) met while working at Vue de Monde and went on to tread the kitchen tiles at Michelin-starred London restaurants, including Pétrus by Gordon Ramsay and Fera at Claridges.

Messmates’ soft curtains and muted furnishings make for a relaxed and intimate destination dining experience. The menu is staunchly local and prepped between an open kitchen and warm-lit plating table. Favourites range from delicate Corner Inlet King George Whiting to McIntosh Farm lamb, followed by a warming apple crumble tart and whipped crème fraiche that will keep you coming back to this Gippsland gem time and again.