My house is my home. I spend the majority of my time in this house, and I want to make everyone feel welcome, whether they wear a three-piece suit or T-shirt and flip-flops. The interior has a bit of a medieval feel, with large timber beams and a fireplace big enough to park a car. There’s also a verandah overlooking the vineyard. It’s stunning.
What are the highlights of winter’s menu?
Slow cooking is perfect for winter. Here, we focus on classics like boeuf au vin and coq au Vin but tweak them. We have a vineyard and a farm where we raise sheep. This means we produce a lot of our lamb.
What type of lamb dishes are you able to prepare?
We shred, slow cook, and roll it in prosciutto. We smoke, cure, and make lamb bacon. We make our haggis. I am from Inverness, in the north of Scotland. I have lived in Australia for over 26 years and in this restaurant for 17 years. It’s important not to waste anything but also to pass on skills and knowledge to the next generation. We could fill a lamb breast, a cut that is not often used, with a lamb merguez mixture spiced with paprika. We wrap it, braise it in tomato sauce, and make it into a roulade. Slow cooking is popular, and people love that we cook our lamb.
What else is popular in the winter?
Our popular pork belly is cider-braised overnight, then pressed, and served with buttery cabbage, crispy crackling, and caramelized onion sauce. This is a bestseller. A rotolo is also available, which pays homage to the River Cafe of London. We roast the whole pumpkin and scoop out its flesh. Then we mix it with ricotta, feta, spinach, kale, and garden herbs. It is spread on pasta sheets and then poached before being baked with tomato sugo. People love it. All it’s about is feeding them well. We cook not for ourselves but for our clients. We serve simple food with a twist that you wouldn’t find at home.
Are you able to cater to people who have dietary restrictions?
We are moving towards a healthier diet and veganism. I make a saffron poached pear with coconut yogurt and pistachio Aquafaba (the liquid left over after cooking chickpeas). You can turn it into a meringue. This is a vegan dessert that’s not difficult, but I like simplicity. Simple food is actually difficult to prepare.
