Great Chefs of the Hunter Valley and Surrounds

When I was on Food in Focus several weeks ago, we were discussing how difficult it is to make a restaurant commercially successful, especially in the prolonged economic environment we currently face.  Natascha Moy, our radio host, mentioned with sadness the closing of one of her favorite Sydney restaurants.  We talked about how important it is for a chef to be the face of the restaurant and truly hands-on to infuse his or her passion and quality to give the restaurant every chance of success.  This made me think about how those of us in the Hunter Valley are fortunate to be able to have some access to some great restaurants and superb meals by some of the finest chefs Australia has on offer.

Two Naughty Chooks VenueMy wife and I took two weeks vacation in early July.  It was great to get away.  For the most part, we took the time to cook every meal at home, had some people over for a nice meal, and really spent the time writing, learning new technology and blogging.  However, we did have four meals out, all which were exceptionally good.  We have a few restaurants in the Hunter Valley we frequent regularly, but none with more enthusiasm than Bistro Molines, up Mount View Road and next to Tallavera Grove winery.  It has beautiful views, but most importantly is one of the few hatted restaurants in rural NSW and under the ownership of Robert and Sally Molines who are Hunter Valley icons.  If we want a good meal or a special celebration, this is where we go about 80% of the time.

However, we were anxious to try a few new wineries and restaurants this trip and were able to combine both by attending two great meals hosted by McLeish Wines.  We really fell in love with their 2012 Rose, 2007 Reserve Semillon (numerously awarded internationally), and the 2009 Reserve Chardonnay.  Jessica McLeish, proprietress of McLeish Wines, also has a fine taste for good food and introduced us to two excellent restaurants, Two Naughty Chooks in Singleton and Paymaster’s Cafe in Newcastle.  Both were outstanding restaurants with great chefs that we are certain to go back to.  The meals were on back-to-back nights and were two of the best meals we ever had.

The next week, we visited Restaurant 221 in Cessnock for another outstanding meal, even though, I must admit that I had a bit of a ‘concept conflict’ with such fine dining in a pub environment.  And the following day we ate lunch at the restaurant at Margan Wines in Broke.

Paymaster VenueFour new restaurants with four great head chefs (actually five as Two Naughty Chooks is a husband / wife team) which we are certain to visit again.  Each restaurant and their great head chefs deserves their own write-up, so I will be writing a post on each of them over the next month or so.  You may feel this has more to do with food than wine, but food and wine go together so well and each of these restaurants has a great wine list and close relationships with wineries in the region.  They all have some ‘special’ wines for consumption and make every effort to provide the best food and wine dining experience available.  That is why I want to introduce you to them as you deserve to know about such outstanding places to eat and they deserve your support.

I wrote a review of the great meal we had at Two Naughty Chooks already.  So I will be reviewing Paymasters Cafe next and their outstanding long-term chef, Rodney Scales.  We did my first ever Australian Christmas in July meal there and it was magnificent.  Rodney is passionate about cooking and serving and is also well versed in social media, so feel free to connect with him and follow what he has going on  in terms of upcoming events and new menu items.

 

Steve Shipley, author Wine Sense, out early 2014. Published by InkIT Publishing
© 2013.  Steve Shipley
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