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HUNTER Valley restaurant stalwarts Andrew and Janet Wright are the duo behind the two dining offerings – the Wood Restaurant and Cru Bar + Pantry – at the new Brokenwood cellar door complex in the Hunter Valley which opened late last year.
The $8 million development centres around a new tasting facility that includes tasting bars known as “pods,” an expansive outdoor terrace, two private tasting rooms, two private dining rooms and a wine museum. The Wrights have been residents of the Hunter Valley since 1997 and have run the Cellar Restaurant at Hunter Valley Gardens for the past 18 years. With a long-standing relationship with managing director/winemaker Iain Riggs and the Brokenwood team, they will run both the fine dining and casual eateries.
The Wood Restaurant offers contemporary Australian dishes, many of which will be cooked in the restaurant’s wood-fired oven. With seating for 90 guests both inside and outside, the Wood Restaurant serves lunch daily and dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings, and uses local Australian produce wherever possible.
A market-style display of the freshest seafood delivered from the Sydney Fish Market is an eye-catching feature, while the menu is designed to pair with Brokenwood’s flagship wines, the Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz and ILR Reserve Semillon.
Adjacent to the Wood Restaurant is Cru Bar + Pantry, a casual eatery that serves a selection of shared plates, cheese and charcuterie, wood-fired pizza made to order, coffee, home-made pies, toasties, sweets and picnic packs to enjoy on the lawn or take away. Cru Bar + Pantry is open for breakfast, lunch and snacks daily.
“We have an amazing relationship with Iain and the Brokenwood team,” says Andy Wright. “The cellar has been our home for the last 18 years, but we’re ready for a new and exciting adventure and couldn’t think of a better place to do that than at Brokenwood.”
Designed by Sydney-based architecture and design company Villa + Villa, the new cellar door is one of the largest in the Hunter Valley wine region, covering 1400 sq m and able to accommodate more than 250,000 visitors annually. It replaces the original cellar door built in 1975 by the winery’s founders. The facility also includes a museum that overlooks the working barrel hall and KB’s Lookout, a unique space above the tasting room named in honour of the late Keith Barry (KB) who was the winery’s vineyard manager for 23 years. Visit www.brokenwood.com.au.