Gareth Williams, pastry chef and owner of Covered in Crumbs, is opening his very own shopfront.
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Finally.
He has spent the past couple of years "popping up" at various venues however has found a base at the Muster Point Collective in Mayfield East.
You will find him on the ground floor, behind The Cutting Division, sometime next month.
Williams, who was head pastry chef at Newcastle's Restaurant Mason, held his first official Covered in Crumbs pop-up event at Sherwood Coffee Bar, Newcastle West, in November, 2017. Williams was in the winning Hunter Culinary Association Food Fight team that year where his dessert was voted the most popular dish of the day.
Read more: Pastry chef serves a knockout dish
"We will be opening the second week in December, but we've already launched our Christmas menu and online store," Williams said.
"We are aiming for Saturday 12 and 13 as our opening weekend.
"It's been a long time coming but we wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing."
Do yourself a favour and pre-order some Covered in Crumbs goodies for Christmas. They have a festive range to choose from (coveredincrumbs.com.au).
Street food on Fridays
Friday Night Feast has found a home: The Station Newcastle.
The brainchild of Hunter Events Group, it's a fortnightly event with food trucks and vendors serving a wide range of cuisines.
"We really wanted to support local food vendors by giving them a space to set up and do what they do best - serve up amazing food," event manager Kate Fraser said.
"Every second Friday at the freshly renovated The Station Newcastle, from 5pm to 9pm, locals can enjoy a fantastic selection of street eats in a COVID-safe environment. Entry is completely free, though all patrons will need to check in to comply with COVID regulations.
"As the event grows, expect to see Friday Night Feast pop up in more great locations around the Hunter."
The debut Fright Night Feast is on December 4. The first vendor to be confirmed is The German Grill Haus. The second? Lulu's Gelato Company.
Rascals' night out
Rascal in Newcastle's CBD is now open seven days from 11am, in keeping with its Charlestown Square stablemate. Chef and owner Scott Montgomery was spotted on the weekend at the invitation-only Variety NSW ACT Dine for Kids event in Newcastle with Restaurant Mason's Chris Montgomery, and both chefs scrubbed up well.
Low and slow saloon
Chef Glen Taylor has been teasing his Instagram followers with photos of a huge offset smoker and the name "Corset" in recent weeks.
His Hamilton venture is going to be worth the wait. He anticipates it will open in February.
Corset will be a Texas BBQ and saloon inspired restaurant - think neon lights, recycled timber and music. Plenty of it. There will be multiple bars on two levels and a 6.5-metre offset smoker cooking (low and slow) meats and vegetables.
Corset will be open Wednesday to Saturday, with a ticketed Sunday event once a month.
French flair in Valley
French patisserie Gigi & Chix opened at Hunter Valley Gardens Village in Pokolbin last week.
Chocolatier, pastry chef and TAFE NSW teacher Dean Gibson has been helping pastry chef and owner Angela Mason out behind the scenes. Expect a story about this talented woman in the Newcastle Herald soon.
"I've just commercialised her ideas and passion into what I think is a very, very nice concept," Gibson said.
"She's got no competition. Her product is very French, very simple, using just the best ingredients.
"It's something very new for the Hunter Valley. There's not really anything like it out there."
Cake Boi gets festive
MasterChef fan favourite from Mayfield Reece Hignell has some exciting news to share ... soon. Our lips are sealed. He has been working on some Christmas baking recipes, though, so keep an eye out for those.
Many pots on boil
Lost Boys Kebab at the Cambridge Hotel has a new menu. Notable inclusions are the Smoked Kofte (smoked pork and beef kofte, Ronald's special sauce, iceberg lettuce, cheese, pickles, $16); Beef Brisket (slow-cooked beef brisket, smoked chipotle yoghurt, grilled cheese, pickled red onion, tomato, iceberg lettuce, $17); and the Fried Halloumi (crumbed halloumi, red pepper, walnut, garlic yoghurt, iceberg lettuce, mint, parsley, $15). The Pumpkin and Curd also catches the eye (roast pumpkin, goats curd, fried eggplant relish, shaved green cabbage, coriander, garlic yogurt, sumac, $15).
Owner and chef Joel Humphreys, also of Scottie's seafood restaurant fame, has been busy.
Read more: Lost Boys kebabs pack a punch at the Cambo
Not only has he been updating menus, he's been running the new Maitland Growers and Artisan Market at The Regal Hotel, Tenambit, each Sunday. He says the market has been "really well received from the community of Maitland".
Stallholders include Tea Gardens Kombucha; Amateur Bee Keeping Association Hunter Valley; Transient Plants; The Good Growers; Shane's Seafood; Doraville Organics; Dust Bakehouse; and Tree of Life Grazing.
Fresh produce from Old Barrraba Homestead made its debut last weekend. The owners have recently pivoted their farming business and are using open pasture for egg production. They hope to expand into pasture-raised poultry, as well as offering grass-fed beef and lamb from pastures the chickens will help to renovate.
Ice-cream expansion
As soon as its new freezers are installed, which is any day now, East End Ice Creamery will have 36 new flavours to choose from.
Owner Tracey Whitehead is pretty excited about the Zaara Street shop's Christmas lights display, too. Check it out.
Wine and dine competition
Thomas Wines and Yellow Billy Restaurant have joined forces to create a fun food and wine pairing to enjoy at home.
The idea is to attempt a recipe created by Yellow Billy head chef Samuel Alexander, throw a dinner party, share your pics on Instagram, tag three friends you'd like to take to the Hunter Valley with you - and you are in the running for the chance to spend a day in wine country "hanging out" with trophy-winning winemaker Andrew Thomas and the Yellow Billy crew.
You'll enjoy a private wine tasting at Thomas Wines, a behind-the-scenes kitchen and garden tour and a long lunch at Yellow Billy matched with some of Thommo's finest wines.
To enter, grab a six-pack of Thomas Wines, download the recipes from thomaswines.com.au and get cooking.
Entries close January 31.
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