Tuesday 16 July 2024

New Hunter winery restaurant aims to offer something different


The Hunter Valley is to get a new winery restaurant with a menu designed to accompany "natural" wines.

Harkham Wines will open a restaurant on their grounds to sit alongside their cellar door from Thursday.

The restaurant will have a relaxed atmosphere, a simple menu designed for sharing and live music from local talent. 

Harkham is a family-owned and -operated winery with a focus is on small-batch, single-vineyard varietal wines that are hand-harvested and left to ferment with minimal intervention.

The Harkham family were the first in the Hunter when, back in 2005, they started to produce "natural" and "orange" wines, which were made in clay amphorae.

Only 20,000 bottles are produced each year, with many going on to be sold at restaurants including Brae, Margaret and Bentley Restaurant & Bar.

“We are really proud of the Harkham brand and all that we have done in our almost 20 years," says owner and winemaker Richie Harkham

"Not long ago we identified a gap in the market for a casual offering where people can come to enjoy simple food paired beautifully with a glass of Hunter Valley semillon or shiraz rather than locking into a fine dining experience with a two-course minimum."

Harkham has worked with restaurateur and friend Marco Ambrosino and newly appointed Harkham head chef Shaun Nash (ex-Cutler and Co) on the menu. 

Well-travelled sous chef Robin Clough will support Nash.

The menu will be split into sections: starters and snacks, protein, pasta, pizza, sides and dessert .

Think dishes like fried olives with goat’s cheese; meatballs with parmesan and Napoli sauce; spaghetti aglio olio, veal cotoletta; and a fish of the day. Desserts will include tiramisu and a selection of cheeses.

A snack menu with a smaller selection of small and share plates will be on offer outside of main meal times.

Harkham’s new restaurant will be open from 12pm-5pm on Thursdays (lunch), 12pm-11pm on Fridays (lunch, snacks, dinner), 8am-11pm on Saturdays (breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner) and 8am-6pm Sundays (breakfast, lunch, snacks).

The cellar door is open 10am-5pm, Thursday through to Sunday and bookings can be made now via Harkham’s website.

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