Your next flavour escape from Brisbane: Kingaroy and South Burnett food and wine trail

Take the turnoff from D’Aguilar Highway at Moore and follow the road less than 10km to the Linville Hotel, a grand old pub in a tiny country town. Don’t be surprised if the street is packed with cars and bicycles – this hidden gem is well known by riders on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail, which runs right through Linville.

Offering plenty of indoor-outdoor dining decks and outdoor seating in the lower-level beer garden, the Linville Hotel has a pub menu that’s a notch above the usual. Spicy Thai beef salad or pumpkin and haloumi salad, anyone? Pub meal fans can find old favourites like chicken parmy six ways, burgers or a tender steak sandwich as well as in-house recipes like tropical Queensland salad, loaded with pineapple and beetroot. With regular chef specials, live music every Saturday afternoon, and big sky views, the Linville Hotel won’t be a hidden gem for much longer.

While you’re there: Overnight in one of the hotel’s rooms upstairs, or free camp across the road. If outdoor activity is your thing, get in touch with Out There Cycling to arrange to ride a section of the rail trail, bike hire and drop off and pick up and each end. Insider tip for cycling novices – ask the pub staff about the location of best downhill sections!

Stop 2: Blackbutt Bakery

Pull up at the busy Blackbutt Bakery for a taste of some very famous pies. If the Tennessee whisky chicken benedict pie doesn’t grab you – slow cooked chicken in a whisky cream with smoky bacon, spinach, and a cheesy hollandaise sauce – there’s always peri peri pork pie or a camel pie to hit the spot.

End things on a sweet note with a visit to the dessert cabinet before you head off. Old favourites sit side by side with reimagined treats like peanut butter and snickers tarts and choco strawmallow tarts – your taste buds will thank you! 

While you’re there: Wander through the Roy Emerson Museum, a slice of Australian sporting history celebrating the tennis legend, or stay for lunch at the recently renovated Radnor Hotel.

Stop 3: The Maidenwell Trading Post

Take the turn-off at Yarraman and head up to the charming village of Maidenwell. Locals love the Trading Post, stocked with a range of freshly baked scones, baked on-premise Frangipani Pie and home-made sausage rolls and pies.

If you see a pack of the locally produced Ausgarlic black garlic, grab it! This seasonal creamy black delicacy has a sweet mild flavour – great with soft cheese on crackers when you get home. Share one with your friends – if there’s any left, that is.

For quick eats, try their delicious homemade pies and pasties or just grab a Tim Adams coffee and slice of cake before you hit the road again. 

While you’re there: Take the short five minute drive to Coomba Falls waterhole surrounded by grass trees, a pretty spot to stretch your legs and have a picnic, or just enjoy the tranquility. Just ask for directions at the Trading Post.

Stop 4: Kingsley Grove Estate

Time for wine? The Kingaroy and South Burnett food and wine trail is home to a dozen or so boutique wineries, embracing Queensland's climate to produce Mediterranean-style wines that match perfectly with the local produce. 

Pop into family-run Kingsley Grove just outside of Kingaroy for wine tasting and wood-fired pizza. This self-sustaining winery operates 'from berry to bottle': all grapes are grown right here, and wine is produced on-site too. Their annual grape stomp in February is a popular and fun event that the whole family can take part in – and tick off their bucket list! Don’t leave without trying their wine ice cream, made in partnership with Brisbane’s Lick! Ice Cream with flavours like Fat Fox Port with Dark Chocolate or Verdelho and Lemon Sorbet.

While you’re there: Why not continue to the Bunya Mountains? Stay the night and stop in at Australia’s highest whisky bar at the Bunya Mountains Tavern.  Enjoy the cooler climate (always around five degrees cooler), take a wander on one of the 42km of walking tracks or go crazy taking photos of the stunning views from Fisher’s Lookout.

Seasonal treats are on offer for travellers at the right time of year, including Open Farm Day tours at Bunya Red Farm which produces Queensland's first commercially grown award-winning capers and caperberries. They are chemical-free, hand-picked and packed on the farm, and while you're there, you'll get the best-of-country hospitality from Allan and Mandy, as well as a meet and greet with their alpacas, and tour of their small tree plantation, vegetable garden and old farm building. If you're lucky, you might even meet their visiting Emu.

While you're there: At Christmas, it's worth visiting Chrissy Trees 4 U to wander amongst real Christmas trees.

Stop 5:  Whipbird Cafe

For country charm and farm-to-table eats, you can’t go past Whipbird, as the locals call this place. Operating from an old timber church set amongst gardens and gum trees, the young couple running this café-restaurant offer a small, seasonal menu with a focus on local and organic.

Open Friday to Sunday for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Whipbird showcases produce sourced from farms in the South Burnett, including their own. Veggies are often picked the same day they are cooked, while locally made sauces, preserves, syrups and freshly picked flowers are available according to the season. Sunflowers, anyone?

While you’re there: Pottique Lavender Farm is just up the road, its café and shop set alongside rows of gorgeous lavender plants. Try their lavender-infused treats or browse the shop for lavender products. Delve a little further and you’ll be astounded by the huge range of French country antiques and wares behind the café!

Stop 6: The Peanut Van

Peanuts have been grown around Kingaroy for over 100 years, its fertile red volcanic soil perfect for the crop, which was first planted by Chinese settlers for their own use.

Local icon, the Peanut Van, is a must-stop on the food trail. Operating for over 50 years, you'll find addictive peanut flavours from curry and maple bacon to honey ginger and salted caramel. And if you crave more once you get home, just order your favourites from their online shop.

While you’re there: For Byron Bay coffee and a relaxed vibe, Hunter Gatherer Trader is your go-to. Part café, part meeting place, part retail therapy, it’s the place to browse boho dresses and funky handmade pottery while waiting for your order.

Stop 7: Farm-To-Fork Collective

Hope you packed your shopping bags because this little green shop on the main road of Wooroolin is hard to resist! True to its name, everything on the shelves (and in the cold-rooms!) is grown or made within about 160km.

That’s everything from lamb and beef to specialty organic mushrooms, award-winning capers and garlic to spices and honey, and wine and finger limes to soaps and the freshest of fruit and vegetables.

While the shop is only open on Friday and Saturday, it’s well worth the stop to chat with the volunteer staff who can share local intel on the produce and the growers who take the time to create it. This is the locavore concept working in action!

While you’re there:  Nature lovers can take one of two walks to the bird hide at Wooroolin Wetlands, a small sanctuary for around 25 species of birds.

Stop 8: Prendergast’s Irish Tavern

Local produce and hearty Irish dishes feature on the menu at this tavern, part of the rustic Dusty Hill Winery village in the Moffatdale area near Murgon.

Walking into the tavern instantly transports you to another time and place, with dark walls lined with gilt framed portraits and landscape paintings, under the watchful eyes of mounted stag heads.

With mains’ choices including Irish croquette with vegetable stack, and Sinking Shepherd - a slow cooked lamb pie with colcannon mash, green peas and jus - mealtimes at Prendergast’s will bring out the Irish in anyone.

Their homemade bacon-topped pork and apple sausages with mash and gravy will set you up for an afternoon tipple with friends on the verandah, watching ducks waddle across the lawns to the serene pond.

If the weather is cooler, challenge your travel mates to a game of pool or snuggle into the leather lounges in front of the fireplace and enjoy a glass of the local red.

There’s boutique accommodation onsite – think cute cottages and a renovated chapel – and their annual Dusty Day Out each October features 12 hours of fabulous food and drink, music, and merriment.

While you’re there: The tavern is part of the Dusty Hill Village complex and it’s easy to spend a few hours here sampling wines at the cellar door, browsing their pantry and gift shop or just strolling around the grounds.

Stop 9: Clovely Estate Vineyard

Tucked into the sunny hillside of the South Burnett, find your happy place amongst the vineyards and olive groves of award-winning Clovely Estate. 

The family has been producing small batch wines since planting their first vines in 1997. Stop in at the cellar door to sample drops like saperavi, rack-dried semillon and sparkling rosé - and grab some locally pressed olive oil to take home too. 

Finding ways to reduce their grape wastage, the Clovely team also creates small batch craft spirits through their South Burnett Distillers’ label, producing aromatic gins and vodka. And if you arrive needing a nibble, grab a grazing platter to share and take a seat at one of the outdoor tables overlooking stunning rolling hills and vineyard views.

While you’re there:  The Moffatdale area is also home to Nuova Scuola Wines, Dusty Hill Vineyard and Moffatdale Ridge Winery.

Stop 10: Goomeri Bakery

This pretty little town boasts two well-known local favourites: the annual pumpkin festival, and its very own French patisserie-style bakery. Trained in France to learn the tips and tricks of the trade, baker Margi kneads Parisian perfection into everything from flaky, buttery croissants to the chocolate pear danishes. The flour is imported from France to add true Parisian flavour to fresh sourdough loaves, pies and pastries.

On weekends it’s a popular spot for cyclists and day-trippers, so get there early to find a seat in the outdoor courtyard next to the shop. Bon appetit!

While you’re there: Just a short stroll past the bakery you’ll find Barambah Valley Confectionery – a chocoholic’s dream come true – where handmade sweets and chocolates line the walls. You might be lucky enough to watch the chocolatier working some magic if you time it right. And just a few metres beyond is the delightfully whimsical Wimberley Book Store, housing an eclectic collection of books and gifts, a gorgeous room of children’s books and a quirky second-hand section.