This new restaurant in Orange heroes sustainability, local produce & foraging

There is something magical about winter in Orange, in central west NSW. Mist clings to the valleys, deep green conifers drip with morning dew and with the deciduous trees now bare, a glowing light spreads across the landscape. It is breathtakingly beautiful and the perfect frame for our arrival into Rowlee Single Vineyard Wines and the newly opened Rowlee Dining & Bar.

Located on Lake Canobolas Road as you head out to the lake, Rowlee is a magnificent vineyard and producer of some of the best cold-climate wines in the region, and that is saying a lot. The day is just starting to shift from a light rain to blue skies, and the rows of vines are bare but sparkling. The driveway is longish with a nice country crunch of gravel that makes for a lovely way to arrive.

The newly opened restaurant designed by Benn + Penna Architects is crisply contemporary without feeling at odds with the landscape. Our host, Bon Kuil-Hartikainen, greets us with a charm that feels right at home in this elegant setting. And elegant it is, with a pared back aesthetic of pale caramel Belgian velvet curtains and the soft underfoot touch of recycled red wine corks. A small corridor leads past a bar before revealing the restaurant proper. With the kitchen to the side, the whole faces a magnificent view across gardens designed by Myles Baldwin, ancient pine trees and rural pastures. This is definitely where you want to idle away a lazy afternoon.

Head chef Simon Furley is all about sustainability, local produce and foraging wherever possible. As such, each item on the menu is conceived to use every part of the plant or animal and be entirely seasonal. The roast pumpkin, for example (totally delicious) uses the seeds in two ways: sprouted and fermented then mashed to provide the basis of the sauce, and roasted and generously sprinkled for a surprising crunch to the dish. Even the skin gets a look-in with most roasted with the pumpkin, but some dried and then pulverised to provide a lightly earthy flavour as well as a shot of hot orange colour and a slightly powdery texture that instantly melts away. It is a refined trick of culinary expertise that delivers the balance so well. A good mound of finely grated sheep cheese brings a mild, nutty salt to the dish. For the vegans at the next table, Furley substituted the cheese with a roasted chestnut (foraged from the property that week) to their absolute delight.

“I use everything, so there is a good supply of pickled produce, oils and such. I’m drying these fish to be added to oil as a base, nothing is ever wasted” says Furley, pointing out a neat row of fish on one hand and a shelf laden with large jars of pickled vegetables, oils and condiments on the other.

The dining experience is designed for sharing, with numerous small plates that are somewhat tapa-like with a distinctly European sense of flavour. The smoked Kahawai, for example, is an excellent pairing of this rich-blood fish with light, crisp slices of pickled carrot. The cured fish with charcoal mayo and salad turned out to be sustainably farmed Byron Bay lobster in a light mayonnaise wrapped in super soft leaves of butter lettuce. The flavour combination is excellent with the coal mayonnaise, more earthy than smoky to bolster the umami of the lobster without overpowering. Paired here with Rowlee’s Pinot Gris, the wine’s fine aromatic nose brings a fullness to the flavour spectrum without competing.

The pinot is also the perfect companion to the locally foraged saffron milk caps the locals call pine mushrooms and scientists call Lactarius deliciosus. And delicious they are, with a delicate batter that is more like a veil of crispiness over succulent sweet flesh. The pumpkin skin sauce is sweet and fecund, with a honey-like complexity of flavours.

This lightness of touch is recurrent throughout the menu with delicate crisps. “Simon likes to keep things hyper-local, and he keeps a good eye on whatever Farmer Doug has on offer. They came out of the ground a day ago” says Bon of the electric blue chips. They have been cut so finely they dissolve on the tongue if you are not quick enough to enjoy the crunch! The chargrilled leek with cheddar custard makes a nod to Simon’s homeland of Bath, in the UK, while using all local produce. It is absolutely divinely creamy and sweet with an earthy undercurrent.

Not having realised the cured fish would be lobster (some surprises are excellent after all) we had ordered the lobster main. Prepared in a completely different way to the entrée, with a sauce made from everything save the pair of tails, it was abundantly rich without overwhelming the subtle flavour of the lobster. Super thin slices of baby turnip provided just the right textural variation with a slightly sweet crispness, while foraged dandelion leaves added a warm spice. The blend of two varietals (handpicked and whole bunch pressed separately) in Rowlee’s 2023 Chardonnay balances the cold-climate crispness of full fruit (mellowed by French oak) to a long but gentle finish and is a perfect balance to the rich seafood flavours.

When Simon first came to Rowlee just a few weeks ago, “the fridge was full of quinces just picked from the large tree by the pavilion,” he tells me. “On the day after, a farmer popped in with some fresh baby fennel. There was also fresh olive oil from the valley, so the dessert was asking to be made.” Arguably, no one but Simon would have combined these ingredients in quite the same way. Under his touch, a light pink quince sorbet is crowned with crystallised fennel and surrounded by a deep green lick of slightly peppery olive oil with a rich grass aftertaste. It is a delightful and surprising combination that is barely sweet and wholly refreshing.

Building the restaurant to round out the already popular Rowlee cellar door, vignerons Nicole Samodol and James Manny tell me: “We create wines that are subtle, balanced, and reflective of our unique terroir. We believe that drinking local wine and eating local food is a wonderful way to foster relationships between people and place.” The restaurant shares the same direction with shared plates and terroir clearly legible in every delectable moment.

rowleewines.com.au