Andy Wright heads up new Brokenwood restaurants and Mike is headed to Mason | Food Bites

Set to open on December 7, the Cellar Door will include circular tasting bars known as “pods”, an outdoor terrace, two private tasting rooms, two private dining rooms and a wine museum.

The Wood Restaurant will offer a contemporary Australian menu and seat 90 guests. It will serve lunch daily and dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings and feature Brokenwood’s flagship wines: the Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz and ILR Reserve Semillon. 

The Cru Bar + Pantry will be a casual eatery serving shared plates, cheese and charcuterie, wood-fired pizza made to order, coffee, pies, toasties and sweets, and picnic packs to enjoy on the lawn or take away. It will be open for breakfast, lunch and snacks daily and feature an Enomatic self-serve dispenser which will serve a selection of premium and rare wines that would not ordinarily be available for tasting.

Andy is a chef and Janet works front of house. They moved to the Hunter Valley in 1997 and have run The Cellar Restaurant at Hunter Valley Gardens for the past 18 years. 

“We have an amazing relationship with winemaker Iain Riggs and the Brokenwood team,” Andy said. “The Cellar has been our home for the past 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.”

Food & Wine understands the Wrights hope to sell The Cellar to focus on The Wood Restaurant and Cru Bar + Pantry.

Newcastle’s hatted Restaurant Mason will host the De Iuliis New Release Wine Dinner on Thursday, October 25. Winemaker Mike De Iuliis will expertly pair 10 award-winning wines to a five-course degustation menu and will no doubt have a few words to say about each drop. Tickets are $130 for members or $150 for non-members at stickytickets.com.au. Seats are limited so get in quick.

Amor Beverages and 5 Sawyers are joining forces to officially launch Tanduay Rum at 8pm on Wednesday, October 21. The occasion will also give punters the opportunity to sample Newcastle singer Crocqhenri “Crocq” Lucerno’s Mini Pinoy Grill marinade. It’s a match made in heaven. Tanduay Rum originates from the Philippines and Crocq loves to cook Filipino food. His marinade is now stocked at a handful of outlets across the region – go to minipinoygrill.com.au to find out where. Crocq will also perform with Marissa Saroca on the night. Entry is free and each Tanduay Rum cocktail will set you back just $10.

Hope Estate will launch a brand new “garden party” – Cloud Wine – on Saturday, November 10. There will be wine and award-winning craft beer to enjoy as well as DJs, a silent disco, wine-blending activities and a two-course lunch. It’s on from 11am to 7pm and main meals will be served between noon and 2pm. Tickets are on sale now at Hope Estate’s website.

Father of three and former detective Ian Cant will share his journey with cancer at a special “long lunch” at Bushrangers Bar and Brasserie on Sunday, October 21. In March 2016 Cant was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma. He had a tumour the size of a tennis ball on the top of his left lung, 20 to 30 tumours in his lungs, a tumour on his cerebellum, two tumours in his abdomen and melanoma throughout his lymph nodes. 

His oncologist – and Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) researcher – Dr Craig Gedye will also speak at the event.

Lunch at the Largs venue is a six-course degustation matched with Tyrrell’s Wines. Tickets are $89 per person with $45 from each ticket going directly to HMRI to fund vital medical research into immunotherapy. Book your seat by phoning 4930 1201. 

Also, a shout out to the Bushrangers team for raising $20,016 for farmers at their recent Fork to Farm dinner.

Paymasters is kicking off a revamped monthly wine degustation dinner series on October 18 with Scarborough Wine Co. There will be canapes on arrival followed by three wine-matched courses. Dinner starts at 6.30pm and tickets cost $95 per person. To book your seat phone 4925 2600.

Panino Caffè & Restaurant has re-opened at Wollombi after a fire forced it to close six months ago. It’s open for breakfast and lunch, Thursday to Monday, and dinner Friday to Sunday. 

Ben Ean has opened a chocolate shop at its Pokolbin cellar door – D’Vine Treats.

Applications for the First Creek Wines Front of House Scholarship and the Hunter Culinary Association Rising Star Scholarship close this Friday, October 5. The front-of-house scholarship winner will receive $5000 to advance their hospitality experience and career. The Rising Star Scholarship provides an educational opportunity for a Diploma in Hospitality Management at Hunter TAFE.

Troy Rhodes-Brown found out yesterday that Muse Restaurant was one of five finalists nominated for regional restaurant of the year in this year’s Good Food Guide Awards. He then shared the news on social media. The winner is announced on Monday at an awards ceremony in Melbourne.