by Nick Rowe
Messmates Dining in Warragul took out The Age Good Food Guide's "Regional Restaurant of the Year" prize at the coveted award's 44th instalment last week.

The annual award has recognised the best chefs and restaurants in Victoria since 1980 and the 2024 awards were the result of more than 500 independent reviews held during the year.
Messmates is the brainchild of locals - brother and sister Chris and Jodie Odrawaz - and their respective partners Jess Odrowaz and Michael Clarke.
The restaurant and bar opened in September 2023 and in its first two months of operation it received a coveted hat from The Age's storied Good Food Guide. Since then, the Palmerston St eatery and bar - formerly the home of The Grange cafe for 30 odd years and before that a church and squash court - has gathered a loyal local following as well as becoming a foodie and tourist destination for Warragul.
Messmates was one of five nominees for the prestigious award and while proud to be nominated, the team had no expectations for what would transpire on the night.
When Messmates was announced regional restaurant of the year the two couples were surprised to say the least.
"We were a bit stunned, we didn't even have a speech prepared - we were up against some incredibly impressive competition such as The Lake House in Daylesford and Samesyn in Torquay," Jess said.
Michael said while receiving a "hat" and the award were a huge compliment, it wasn't the reason the foursome opened Messmates. "We never opened with the intention of getting a hat or anything like that - our focus has always been on providing a great restaurant to the Warragul community - the awards are a bit of icing on the cake."
Messmates tries as much as possible to source its product from local farmers and suppliers. Chris and Jodie's parents Ian and Leslie who were long time proprietors of Lean and Green in Warragul, provide much of the restaurant's vegetables and other local suppliers such as Five Tales Farm in Noojee and Greenhills in Yarragon are also major suppliers.
Jodie, who is humbly no stranger to awards in the space as the AGFA's "Young chef of the year" in 2019, said Messmates was all about local supply. "We source as much produce as possible from local suppliers. We are lucky to have so many top quality farmers and growers in our area."
What does the future hold for Messmates? Chris said the group wanted to consolidate what they had achieved in the past 12 months. "While we want to always evolve our menu, we really are committed to maintaining our standard and continuing to serve the local community and tourists to the area."