St Patrick's Day is next week but The Lovedale Bar has been celebrating all month with Irish-inspired food and beverage specials.
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It's Irish Month at the Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley bar and you can tuck in to house-made lamb rissoles with Colcannon, garden peas and stout gravy ($26); grilled chicken supreme with Irish Boxty, braised savoy cabbage and bacon and mushroom sauce ($28); or baked apple cake with dark gelato and pecan and cinnamon crumb ($9). Irish drink specials and themed cocktails are also available.
This weekend, try The Bennett Hotel on Denison Street in Newcastle. On Sunday from noon punters can enjoy $8 pint of Guinness and Kilkenny, traditional Irish music, and children eat free. The Corner at Charlestown Square is also celebrating early. On Sunday 4 Pines Brewing Company will have their Nitro Stout on tap, plus there will be live music, face painting and special St Patrick's Day themed menus available at The Corner's resident restaurants.
The Northern Star at Hamilton is again going all out to celebrate. They have teamed up with Big Apachee to present The St Patrick's Day Festival on Tuesday, March 17, featuring 13 hours of music on three stages. Entry is free.
The Grain Store will be pouring imported Irish craft beers on Tuesday from 11am, and offering Irish food specials and an Irish soundtrack; while Finnegan's will be serving classic Irish dishes for lunch with live entertainment and DJs.
Harrigan's Irish Pub at Pokolbin will have Irish bands, Irish dancers, an Irish pipe band and loads of drink specials and giveaways on Tuesday.
The Imperial Hotel Maitland also has a jam-packed St Pat's Day planned, kicking off at 10am. Expect Irish food, live music, the Maitland Pipes and Drums Band and Guinness merchandise giveaways.
Salt in the wound
Talk about kicking businesses when they're down. Emerson's Restaurant at Adina Vineyard & Olive Grove at Lovedale, for instance, has weathered drought, fires and now lack of patronage due to the COVID-19 health crisis - and now they've been broken into. Chef and owner Emerson Rodriguez, who has just introduced a new autumn menu, says "with the combination of the bushfires and coronavirus there is hardly anyone around". "I'm just slowly plugging away," he tells Food & Wine. "My seafood dishes are always popular. The menu is constantly changing with what's coming in at the Sydney seafood markets. The last thing I needed was a break-in. Binnorie Dairy and Sabor at Lambloch Estate also got broken into, [allegedly] by the same people that broke into my restaurant."
Isla Canarias, a great little tapas restaurant at Belmont also feeling the pinch, was broken into this week too.
MKR winners keep busy
A quick update from last year's home-grown My Kitchen Rules winners Luke Stewart and Matt Gawthrop, who had a busy year at pop-up events and food festivals. "I have had a new addition to my family, Charlie, who was born in December," Luke says. "We have both got back in to cricket, with Matt having a successful season with University of Newcastle cricket club and myself as head coach of Northern Suburbs in the Maitland competition. We have continued developing our dishes at expos and private functions. People can contact us at mattandlukefood@gmail.com for event inquiries."
Change of season
Quite a few restaurants have introduced new menus to coincide with the change of season. The Stag & Hunter Hotel, The Great Northern Hotel Newcastle, Cru Bar + Pantry, Hunters Quarter and RidgeView are all on this list and worth a look. And out at Cessnock, Cafe Manuela is now serving Spanish and Italian-inspired tapas dishes designed to be shared.
Burger pop-up
Newy Burger Co is popping up at Thornton Industrial Park tomorrow (March 12) from 11am. More specifically, they will be at Stratco Australia's car park at 2 Hartley Drive. You can pre-order for orders of 10 or more burgers by 10.30am - and the person organising scores a free dessert. Cash and EFTPOS accepted.
Spend with them
Why not "Buy From A Bushfire Business" this weekend? Businesses in bushfire-affected towns, many of whom are family owned and run, have lost up to 80 per cent of their annual income. You can help by purchasing a product, voucher or a pay-it-forward gift from a Bushfire Business by shopping online and filling your virtual "EmptyEsky". There are more than 300 products listed on the Spend With Us website (spendwithus.com.au) - more than 120 Australian businesses are listed.
The Spend With Us website is a one-stop shop to support businesses in need. It offers an easy to search and purchase platform, with direct shipping available, and allows businesses that don't have a way of accepting online payments to easily create a free website store.
What is not in the spirit of community is hoarding - and stealing - toilet paper. If you're thinking about grabbing some from your local without asking, please think again. For example, a woman stole every single roll from every single cubicle at the Crown & Anchor Hotel on Saturday night. She was caught on camera calmly walking out the front door, past many punters.
Fresh start, fresh menu
The Beach Hotel at Merewether will have a new menu on March 30 to coincide with its new owners and new look. Food & Wine was told a theatrical cocktail professional will be joining the ranks soon.
Save the date
Belmont Beers, BBQ & Beats will return to Belmont South Foreshore on Saturday, May 16. This year the hours have been extended and there will be bands performing across two stages. If you bought a ticket to last year's inaugural event, you qualify for a $5 discount on a 2020 ticket. The offer is valid until March 22.
Pizza and improv for students
The Fringe Festival rolls into Newcastle next week (March 18 to 22) and one of the highlights is a free pizza night for students at the Royal Exchange on Wednesday, March 18. The Improv Job from newly-formed local company Newy Impro Factory is as it says - a show that interacts with the audience to create a production. Tickets are $16.50 and the pizza is free.
Global laneway feast
The Star Hotel has introduced the monthly Street Eats in Spritz Lane. Street food will be served from 11am to 3pm and there will be live music from 11.30am, a gelati cart, and $10 Aperol Spritz as well as $5 Moondog tinnies. This Sunday the theme is South American, followed by Asian street food (April 19) and European street food (May 24).
Fire and Spice at Scotties
Head to Scotties at Newcastle East on March 15 for an evening of Fire and Spice. Head chef Joel Humphreys will once again be celebrating the wonderful flavours of the Chinese province, Sichuan. There are no airs and graces here - diners are encouraged to eat, drink, talk and be merry. There are two sittings - 5.30pm and 7.30pm - and tickets are $65. Book now to avoid disappointment.
Seafood festival
The Taste of Seafood festival is coming to the Commercial Fisherman's Co-operative at Wickham on May 24 "to celebrate and promote the local seafood industry" by meeting commercial fishers. Details to come.
High tea cruise
If you're looking for something unique this Mother's Day, perhaps consider high tea on a two-hour cruise of Newcastle Harbour aboard William the Fourth. Tickets at trybooking.com.
Field trip
Chef Peter Gilmore and his Quay Restaurant crew caught up with suppliers Newcastle Greens and farmer Matthew Dennis on Monday. It was a field trip to the Dennis family's East Maitland acreage "to help understand the huge effort farmers go through to produce the quality of produce we get to work with," Gilmore said. Glorious rain fell to mark the occasion.