Restaurant Botanica

A few words from Restaurant Botanica

When pondering a Hinterland escape, head to Restaurant Botanica at Spicers Vineyard Estate along Hermitage Road in Pokolbin. A contemporary dining room awaits, with timber tables, cane wicker chairs, scallop pendent lighting and glass French doors, beckoning the outdoors in with sprawling vineyard views, allowing the eye to wander as you dine.

DINE
Hidden among grapevines and gumtrees just 10minutes from Pokolbin, head chef Chris Rhoney has been refining its style over the past couple of years, broadening the appeal of the five-star retreat's Restaurant Botanica to casual diners seeking cuisine with impeccable provenance and a superb regional wine list.

A Modern Australian menu has been created with a focus on freshly caught seafood, local cuts of protein and produce from their own garden, ensuring every dish tastes as spectacular as it looks. Showcasing the Hunter region is central to the Botanica ethos. What the kitchen can't grow, they source seasonally from a host of small-scale farmers or from the surrounding country.

Head Chef Chris says - "Botanica's style is French bistro-modern Australian, similar to River Cottage, with a touch of country goodness all through the seasonal menus. Being next to a vineyard certainly brings a sense of rustic indulgence and vinous pleasure to the table. Our team have fantastic wine knowledge and we always try to showcase the Hunter Valley wines and ensure dishes can be paired with the region's iconic shiraz and semillon."

Chef embraces wood-fire cooking, or grilling over dry grape vine canes, loving the flavours it brings to the ingredients.

STAY
Spicers Vineyards Estate is the ideal base from which to explore everything the Hunter Valley has to offer, with seasonal dishes effortlessly matched with wines from the Hunter – Australia's oldest wine region – while the onsite Spa Anise adds to the feeling of rejuvenation and appreciation of life that comes as naturally at Spicers Vineyard Estate as appreciating the latest vintage.

The Estate has just 12 luxury suites plus a separate four-bedroom Vineyard House (with private pool), each with its own fireplace and spa facilities, set among 22 glorious acres scattered with majestic gum trees, vineyards and the Brokenback Range framing the horizon.

The spacious country estate is ideal for intimate events and long, convivial days and nights enjoying some of the region's finest cuisine and wine with friends, family or colleagues.

Spicers Vineyard Estate is the perfect romantic base to experience life and explore the delights of Hunter Valley with a hot air balloon flight, or swoop over wine country on your own helicopter tour or pick up one of our gourmet picnic hamper and find your sweet spot in the shade.

Restaurant Botanica and the Estate are a two-hour drive from Sydney or one hour from Newcastle; Sydney Airport is 190km away, Newcastle Airport is 80km. Transfers are available upon request.

TREADING LIGHTLY ON OUR EARTH
Spicers' commitment to sustainability is from the ground up. Their "plant the seed" initiatives, including recycling and reuse programs and composting, are in full swing at each of their retreats.

Organic waste from the Botanica kitchen is composted then added to the vegetable garden, although some of the choicest vegetable off-cuts are given to Crackles the resident pig. The Estate has recently introduced beehives to the vineyards, just a short distance from the garden, and you can see and hear them buzzing around the property, pollinating anything that flowers and making honey for the hungry humans.