From the Paddock to My Stomach
I’ve become one of those people that creeps around in gardens.
While people are mingling, enjoying their pre-dinner drinks, I’ll be bent over smelling mint leaves, admiring the size of pumpkins. Saying things like “Damn, I wish my lime tree looked like that” and “Man, you should see my tomato plant at the moment.”
There’s something so cool about seeing a garden on your plate. Especially when you’re aware of what’s required to maintain a healthy garden. (Trust me, that shiz is hard!)
Lucky for my fellow green thumbs and I, the paddock-to-plate movement is #trending hard. In an area where food and wine attracts millions of epi-curious people to the region, the Hunter Valley is killing it in terms of offering up places that serve homegrown and delicious ingredients. So, peeps, grab your knives and forks and come with me to NSW. Here are the best paddock-to-plate experiences in the Hunter Valley:
Circa 1876
Remember how I said I like to creep in people’s gardens? Yeah, that happened here. I precariously wobbled down (I was in heels) the cobble path and tiptoed through the wet grass to get close to Circa 1876’s absolutely magnificent garden. I’m sniffing basil, and lifting up leaves to spy on zucchinis when LML Nadine calls me over- it’s dinner time.
Be still, my beating heart.
The restaurant looks like it’s out of a nursery rhyme. Built in 1876, this rustic cottage is covered in greenery; plants bulge out of window boxes while two chimneys and wooden slats cover the exterior.
Inside, ornate antiques and creaky floors take us back in time. I feel like Goldilocks, and this restaurant is just right.
We sit down to a white-clothed table and two magenta-coloured shots of beetroot tonic are placed in front of us.
From our table I can see the source of our meals. Head chef George Francisco uses permaculture techniques to maintain the kitchen garden of my dreams- there’s even chickens! The first course? A wooden board full of tempura-fried, ricotta-filled zucchini flowers covered in pine nuts, currants and a basil pesto sauce. 
The next course makes me squeal when it’s placed down. It’s the most Instagrammable plate of food ever, and I waste no time in getting that baby into the ‘gramosphere.
This is fresh veggies from the garden, cooked in an interesting way and arranged with love. I can practically taste the love particles in my sweet potato, pumpkin, roasted and sundried tomatoes, pesto and beetroot.
Dessert comes out last on a black stone: goats’ curd and coconut yoghurt cheesecake with lychees, blueberries and a white chocolate crumble. Oh, man, it’s like a savoury and sweet party in my mouth- just divine.
The Deck Café
Zoom down the Hunter Expressway, keep driving till you get to Lovedale and you’ll find the Deck Café, a verandah café owned and run by celeb chef Matt Dillow and managed by his amazing right-hand lady Samantha.
Lunch is already in full swing when we arrive- couples clink their glasses (filled with wine from on-site winery Gartelmann Wines) A coffee machine blows out steam. A fountain trickles by the tables. It’s long-lunch-venue perfection.
My lunch looks like this:
Zucchini, caramelised onion and pine nut frittata with vine-ripened tomato and olive tapenade. Four-cheese arancini with beetroot relish. Herb-roasted field mushroom with caramelised onion and roasted butternut pumpkin. Plus the 2012 Rylstone Petit Verdot is also worth a glass or two.
The olive tapenade and beetroot relish are both made on site. And the best thing? If you like it, you can buy some to take home.
Restaurant Botanica
When General Manager Rhiannon starts talking about the biodynamic kitchen garden and pet pigs “Salami2, Chop Chop and Crackle” that live next to Restaurant Botanica, I start grinning and clapping like a lunatic. I haven’t even tasted the food yet, and I know I’m going to love this restaurant, part of the Spicers Vineyard Estate in Pokolbin.
Botanica looks like a greenhouse with long views over vineyards and the Brokenback Mountain Range. We sit down near the window, a sunset sparkles through the glass as it disappears over the valley- it’s magic.
The Botanica wine list goes on for days! There’s no shortage of Hunter Valley wines like Tyrrell’s, Brokenwood and Mount Pleasant, and our waitress Marissa blows us away with her knowledge.
First up- a mushroom soup amuse-bouche. It’s foamy and rich with dukkah sprinkles.
No, this is no babycino!
Next, a shallow plate arrives with pea soup, grilled haloumi squares, red wine reduction, and garden herbs sprinkled on top. Although it goes cold quite quickly (I was talking too much), paired with a glass of 2010 Tyrell’s Semillon it tastes and looks amazing. Check out the colours!
Wild mushroom risotto with fresh garden peas and aged balsamic is my main meal. It’s crunchy, warming, and goes great with a glass of 2013 Scarborough Chardonnay.
Special mentions:
Lovedale Smokehouse Gourmet Pantry
When I think smoked and cured food, I think beef, salami, ham, jerky…you know? But Lovedale Smokehouse Gourmet Pantry takes me to a level of smokiness I never knew existed. Smoked on site inside a white smoke house out the back, you’re able to enjoy smoky goods in house, as well as buy cheese, mussels and eel to take home. Definitely worth a visit!
Adina Olives and Olive Oil.
It’s the olive trees that I first notice when we pull in for a tasting here. Bunches of grey leaves flow down the hill and into the distance. And it’s these olives that must bring you to the Adina winery (though there’s some great wines here too!).
These olives, grown at the award-winning Lovedale winery for the last 20 years, are marinated in chilli and garlic or red wine vinegar and are juicy as heck! And if you’re a fan of olive oils, flavours like lemon myrtle and chilli and garlic are almost drinkable by the bottle*- they’re that good.
*I do not recommend this.
Binnorie Dairy
The Binnorie Dairy has some of the best marinated feta I’ve ever tasted- and I’ve tasted a lot! You’ll find the dairy opposite the Matilda Bay Brewhouse in Pokolbin, and owner Simon is only too happy to offer tastings of a range of cheeses that are made on site from local cows.
I take home some local grapevine-ash-covered buche de chevre and some herb-and-olive marinated feta. Wine night anyone?
Mitzi travelled as a guest of DNSW.
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