The best food destinations outside of Sydney
IF it’s truly fresh seasonal local produce you want on your plate, sometimes you need to travel outside Sydney to find it. The Sunday Telegraph has sourced the best of our regional foodie destinations.
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F it’s truly fresh seasonal local produce you want on your plate, sometimes you need to travel outside Sydney to find it.
There has been a boom in high-end regional restaurants in recent years as chefs, attracted by the idea of being closer to where their produce comes from and the lifestyle they can enjoy in country and coastal areas, flee the city.
We’ve sourced the best far-flung foodie destinations that provide the best excuse to get out of the city.
THE EDWARDS
148 Parry St, Newcastle West
About two hours drive from Sydney CBD
When closet foodie and Silverchair’s bassist Chris Joannou packed his guitar away for good he could have easily opened his first eatery anywhere in Australia.
But the lifelong Novocastrian decided instead to stay put and invest in his hometown which, until recently, has played a distant culinary fiddle to big brother down the M1.
Over the years his passion project, The Edwards, has grown from a pub with respectable grub to a bona fide communal food mecca sourcing seasonal produce from almost all local suppliers and an all-day menu. Dishes include a 12-hour braised New England lamb shoulder, a smoked Cape Byron brisket, pork belly from Bangalow and silverside, from Bowman River, served with
cheesy white onion sauce.
SILK’S BRASSERIE
Leura Village
The Blue Mountains lost one of its biggest drawcards recently with the departure of Sean Moran from Tomah’s Garden restaurant, with the Sean’s Panorama owner opting to focus solely on his Bondi venue after four years of juggling two.
However mountains day-trippers still have a handful of worthy replacements and few have held up their reputation over the years as well as Silk’s Brasserie in Leura. The food is unashamedly classic French brasserie fare — things like lamb back-strap fillet with cannellini beans and a roast Tasmanian salmon fillet with caramelised apple — served in one of the area’s quaintest European-style settings overlooking Mount Solitary and the Jamison Valley.
BISTRO MOLINES, HUNTER VALLEY
749 Mount View Rd, Mount View
About two hours drive from Sydney CBD
A sweeping cross section of the best regional NSW fare is not complete without mention of the iconic Bistro Molines — a pocket of fine French cuisine tucked into the rolling hills of Hunter Valley wine country.
Chef Robert Molines and his wife Sally oversee this seasonal outpost gem offers a mix of traditional and evolving French cuisine — plating up dishes like deliver handmade leek pies, pan-fried lambs brains, twice-braised Hunter duck and jewfish fillets served with a jamon consomme — all the while accompanied by a premium wine list of excellent local offerings.
RACINE
42 Lake Canobolas Rd, Orange
About four hours drive from Sydney CBD
Restaurateurs Willa and Shaun Arantz, of Racines, returned from a working holiday in the UK ten years ago and rubbed against the grain of restaurateurs who traditionally flock to the city. In what was a relatively new trend, they opted instead to set up camp in what was then the culinary backwater of Orange.
A decade on and Shaun says the area’s pull as a foodie destination has reached the point where accommodation can’t keep up.
“We are praying for a Rydges or a Crown Plaza to open,” he laughs, suggesting a day trip may be preferable to an overnighted.
“The accommodation situation is seriously a bit of a problem because if there’s wedding or something on in town, that’s all the accommodation gone.”
On their menu made up of just four entrees and four mains, standouts like pressed duck with orange and fennel, cured snapper with jamon and main of local river trout with quinoa, yoghurt and carrot.
GLASSHOUSE, TAMWORTH
13304 New England Hwy, Timbumburi
About six hours drive from Sydney CBD
Last year saw the long-awaited revival of a Tamworth icon — a $5 million makeover of Goonoo Goonoo (pronounced gun-a-goo-noo) Station which had long sat unused before being snapped up by coal baron Tony Haggerty in 2011.
Located on a 4430ha property about 25km south of Tamworth, the new station consists of a meticulously constructed function centre, an 11-room accommodation facility and an impressive restaurant Glasshouse, overseen by chef Damion Moyses. And not surprisingly the region’s heavy beef and lamb farming background is reflected in the menu with dishes including New England lamb shanks, a slow-cooked lamb shoulder and an 800g T-bone steak with chimichurri and a red wine merchant butter.
MONSTER KITCHEN AND BAR
25 Edinburgh Ave, Canberra
Three hours drive from Sydney
A hotel that served great food or a top restaurant with bonus accommodation. It’s hard to know which is which with Canberra’s Monster Kitchen and Bar nestled at the base of boutique lodgings Hotel Hotel.
Rounding its third year this buzzing hangout has become a lure for local bureaucrats and political staffers as well as interstate day trippers. Chef Sean McConnell delivers a knockout menu which follows a similar Asian-tilted Australian bent as his brother Andrew, of Supernormal, Cumulus Inc, Cutler & Co Melbourne fame. Standout dishes; the Moreton Bay bugs with miso butter and the famous yabby jaffle with horseradish and creme fraiche.