The Estate
Stuart Bell
Chef
stuart@tenminutesbytractor.com.au
Stuart’s great skills in French and modern Australian cuisine have been honed with some of the industry’s best, including the multi award-winning Philippe Mouchel at Paul Bocuse, Langtons and Liberté, Alain Fabrègues at the Loose Box (Australia’s best restaurant of 1995) and Jacques Reymond (Australia’s best Restaurant of 1997 & 1998).
Stuart completed his apprenticeship at the Windsor Hotel in Melbourne with Bruno Cerdan, then progressed through the Mouchel, Fabrègues and Reymond kitchens before working in Peacock Alley (1 Michelin star) and Thornton’s (2 Michelin stars) in Ireland.
He returned to work again with both Philippe Mouchel and Alain Fabrègues, and in 2006 moved his young family to the Mornington Peninsula. He joined Ten Minutes by Tractor as Chef in 2007, and the following year gained this accolade from Gourmet Traveller: “This new operation is the best gastronomic outpost to have opened on the Mornington Peninsula in a long time.”
In 2010, Stuart was again recognised by Gourmet Traveller, which ranked the Ten Minutes by Tractor Restaurant in Victoria’s top 10 regional restaurants.
Clayton Hiskins
Restaurant Manager
clayton@tenminutesbytractor.com.au
After completing his Associate Diploma of Business Hospitality at the College of Tourism and Hospitality in Brisbane, Clayton worked for two years on Hayman Island, one of Australia’s most luxurious island resorts.
Europe beckoned, and he gained experience as a chef, restaurant manager and barman in Amsterdam, Edinburgh and Corfu before joining a European cruise line where he was promoted to sommelier.
On his return to Australia, Port Douglas in North Queensland was his first stop, where he managed a restaurant with renowned chef Tony Sassi. He later helped Sassi open the highly awarded Sassi at Balé restaurant in the Balé resort in Port Douglas, which earned two chef’s hats in its first year of opening.
By this time Clayton had developed an intense interest in wine, and when the position of Restaurant Manager at Ten Minutes by Tractor became available in 2007, he jumped at the opportunity to present a list of more than 400 wines to restaurant patrons.
Clayton has created a welcoming, attentive and highly knowledgeable style of service in the Tractor Restaurant, which was acknowledged in the 2010 Age Good Food Guide: “Polished service – all too often a rarity in these parts – completes a winning package.”
Julie Eldridge
Cellar Door Manager
julie@tenminutesbytractor.com.au
After a long and successful career in telecommunications, Julie Eldridge moved to Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula with her husband, and spent 18 months building a mud brick home.
Her fledging links with the wine industry had already been established, with a hotelier father, a life-long love of food and cooking, and ownership of a family restaurant. The food and wine connection became stronger when Julie worked for five years at Darling Park winery in Red Hill before joining Ten Minutes by Tractor in 2001.
In December 2006 a new cellar door and restaurant were opened in the Spedding vineyard, and the cellar door became a seven day operation. Julie’s love, knowledge and passion for wine has grown rapidly with each year, fired by her own natural enthusiasm and the mentoring she enjoys from the Ten Minutes by Tractor winemaking and vineyard team.