Hazelhurst Cafe: the ace of spades

Gymea has found its groove thanks in part to the efforts of chef James Watson, who is now gripping the reins at Hazelhurst Gallery Cafe and giving the 'burb a big giddy-up. Watson is like a rock 'n roll version of Jamie Oliver. And he's brought a bit of that 'oright geezer' grit to Gymea, in Sydney's Sutherland Shire.

Chef James Watson has upped the ante in the Shire.

Watson's Bay
For those who don't know much about the English-born chef, he first earned his culinary chops working under Gordon Ramsay, at Aubergine, and then St John Restaurant in London where it seems he was also prepped in the art of peppering a kitchen with expletives.

The 38-year-old migrated to Australia in 2002 where he quickly gained attention at Balmain's Riverview Hotel. He has since earned a lot of cred for being one of the first of the city's award-winning chefs to look at Sydney's outer suburban strips anew.

After Watson opened the Peacock Trattoria in 2010 in a non-descript smear of shops in Kyle Bay he shifted his gaze to Gymea, with the launch of the Italian Stallion and Hazelhurst Gallery Cafe in August 2014.

The 'cock' as I like to call it, is one of my all-time fave neighbourhood bistros in Sydney and I was beyond happy when I heard the chef's culinary aspirations had crossed Tom Ugly's Bridge. The fact Gymea is just 20 minutes' drive from my home in Cronulla is also a beautiful thing.

The Italian Stallion has helped give Gymea a leg-up in the culinary stakes.

Giddy-up Gymea
The Husband and I were so excited about the arrival of The Italian Stallion Bar and Griglia we galloped there a week after it opened. We both loved how deliciously New York divey and vibey it was and were impressed with our Planet of the Grapes mojitos followed by a few glasses of riesling and the chef's signature duck salad and divine crab linguine. The service from restaurant manager Fabio was also fabulous. So much has been done to rejuve the Stallion since then that it deserves a return visit in the the next few months, when the renovations are complete. (Watch this space.)

Hazelhurst Gallery Cafe has helped Gymea find its groove. 

From garden fork to plate
Now for the heads-up on Hazelhurst. Thanks to Watson - who was also responsible for the recent reworking of the Seawall Restaurant in Walsh Bay - the gallery cafe has benefitted from more than a few tweaks. The new design is rustic and real and references the garden aspect with a feature wall of vintage tools, communal tables that could double as work horses, tin tubs spilling with flowers and well-placed branches, lemons and pineapples providing many points of sculptural interest.

Hazelhurst Gallery Cafe now takes advantage of its location, overlooking a sprawling garden.

The newly rejuvenated Hazelhurst Gallery Cafe is now a place to linger longer.

Art and about
Taking pride of place inside the cafe is a mural by Mulga the Artist that is based on a caricature of the Italian Stallion's Fabio. The character is wearing sunglasses that frame the pass where the chefs peep out onto the floor and it sets the tone of the new cafe, mainlining it with personality. It doesn't matter where you sit, Fabio is there, wearing hot pink frames, glowering at you, challenging you not to be impressed. Watson's notion - to make the gallery cafe a cool place to stay and hang - has paid off. In fact, it's a trademark of his eating houses that you don't want to leave.

Heading them off at the pass is a mural painted by Mulga The Artist.

Perfectly potty
What I really love about the new-look cafe, which was fairly staid in its former life, is that the pensioners in sensible shoes and cardigans feel as welcome as the couples with young kids tumbling about on the lawn next to arty hipsters and locals looking smug that Gymea has lifted its game. It's also fantastic that it's drawing more and more people to the first-rate exhibitions on show in the gallery space next door.

Shear genius - the cafe has been reworked and is now both rustic and refined.

Hello pumpkin
The cafe is an all-day dining affair serving breakfast and lunch until 4pm each day and the menu itself taps into the zeitgeist in that it's food we want to eat. Expect proper ballsy cooking with breakfast options such as Persian pumpkin pancakes, haloumi, dukkah, egg, herbs and Syrian chook or the Big Breakfast Bruschetta, with poached eggs, bacon, herbed mushroom and tomato.

Scones with jam and cream served in pretty terracotta pots.

For all those in-betweeners
There is also an in-between menu with scones with berry jam and double cream served in cute terracota pots and a tempting kids' menu of chicken schnity and chips, quesadilla or fish 'n' chips all served with a nudie popper and seasonal fruit.

House-baked muffins and friands are the order of the day.

Hello ducky
Although the 'cock's signature crispy duck salad, with nectarine, hazelnuts, witlof, watercress, radicchio and vino cotto makes a cameo on the lunch menu, diners are enticed to branch out with solid options such as Tuscan panzanella salad, heirloom tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, crisp bread, baby basil, tomato vinaigrette designed to thrill. As for the reuben sandwich filled with corned beef cooked with golden syrup and malt vinegar, Swiss cheese, pickles, red cabbage and onions? Out. Of. Control.

The reuben sandwich is reason enough to visit the Hazelhurst Gallery Cafe.

There's a song in my art
Hazelhurst Gallery has always been a hot local spot, with major exhibitions, art classes and markets. Now the cafe also deserves attention in its own right, as does James Watson who has made the Shire a better place than when he arrived. Now, head chef Sarah Marsh's ingredient-led menu sits comfortably alongside tidbits 'foraged' from the garden and the mains look like they've riffed with Mulga on how to pull off being a key player.

Breakfast muesli and fresh fruit and yoghurt in a jar ... what a perfectly poised start to the day.

It's elementary, dear Watson
"What I've tried to create is an upbeat, funky modern place to go where the breakfast is good, the lunch is good, the service is good and there are lots of add-on activities in the area. Everything is taking shape and really all I did was capture the goodness in the place ... the bones were there, we've just put some flesh on it," says Watson.

Click go the shears at Hazelhurst Cafe.

The ace of spades
Watson has certainly captured the goodness in the garden cafe in spades. The place is poised and perfect and, like the rest of his restaurants, is lacking in pretension and intent on doing things well rather than being self-absorbed. Add upbeat tunes, a buzzy local vibe and order from a wine list that swaggers around the globe and the result is what Shire locals crave: a gloriously civilised cafe with accomplished chefs delivering food that thrills with the bonus of a garden view. Booyah.

Mulga the Artist has also helped the gallery get its groove on.

Tuck into a tropical fruit pavlova which is bolstered by lemon curd and passionfruit sorbet.

Hazelhurst Gallery Cafe, 782 Kingsway, Gymea, NSW. 2227. For bookings, phone (02) 8536 5755. Open 9am-4pm Mon-Sun.

Kick off summer on the Central Coast

Jumping for joy at Umina Beach. 

If they were to be reincarnated, my two sons would surely return as labrador puppies. They need to be fed, run, watered and loved. Luckily, my husband and I are in synch with their exuberance and, while holidaying on the Central Coast, agree there's no better way to get a feel for a coastal town than to start the day with a walk along the beach in the buttery light of dawn.

Day two of our holiday along the Legendary Pacific Coast begins at Ocean Beach Holiday Park at Umina Beach. After a clamber on the rocks in the nook the locals dub ‘Kiddie’s Corner’ the boys bend their bodies like straws and star-fish into the sand. After being properly schnitzelled, breadcrumbed in sand and dirt, we have a quick dip in the sea before heading back to our cabin, which is bright and modern and has its own ensuite.

Caravan parks in Australia have come a long way, capitalising on their prime locations and offering so many options for children to go berko while parents enjoy the comforts of a really comfortable cabin replete with all the mod cons. 

Huevos rancheros at the the Point Cafe.

The next day, we have to bribe our boys to exit through the boom gate with the offer of breakfast at the Point Cafe in Avoca, where the customers all seem to know each other and the morning shift has a brisk turnover. It’s easy to love a place that sits overlooking the beach, which is curled like a comma just metres from our table.

In the swim of things

We watch one group of locals who swim year-round, no matter the weather, crawling out to sea in their cossies before returning to the cafe for coffee; a table of retirees who, according to the animated staff, might stay from breakfast to lunch; and young families building castles on the sand and dipping in and out of the sea.

The cafe has vases of flowers, easy listening tunes, tasty breakfast and lunch options and views that lower the blood pressure. The menu is pulled together using local produce and the chefs are flexible enough to tweak to your tastes or dietary requirements. Go for huevos rancheros, googey eggs with toast dippers or smashed avo with baby capers, smoked salmon and poached eggs on pumpkin seed bread.

Reserve a table overlooking the beach at Avoca, which curls out like a comma in front of the cafe.

Aqua culture

Come mid-morning, after a walk along Avoca Beach, we still have more than enough fuel in the tank for some Aqua Fun and are thrilled at the opportunity to try out the company’s large range of people-powered watercraft. 

While The Husband and I start off with the more sedate pedal boats, my two action heroes grab a watercraft that is part bike, part boat. The operation is run by Mick and Jennifer Kilp and their son Nick, who is the fourth generation of the family to be in the business of hiring out kayaks. Mick is Mr Water Man himself: his first job in the school holidays in the 70s was hiring out kayaks, and he was a deep sea fisherman for 15 years before launching the Aqua Fun venture 15 years ago.

Pedal-powered boats and water bikes are one of many Aqua Fun options at Avoca Lake.

“My grandfather hired our kayaks in Manly and my father spent the Second World War taking prisoners in kayaks. He was beyond enemy lines during World War Two in a kayak made of canvas conducting stealth missions,” says Mick, who is visibly proud of the long-standing link to the kayak, a type of canoe that was originally used by the Inuit.

Mick and Jennifer Kilp and their son Nick, of Aqua Fun on Avoca Lake.

After whirring about Avoca Lake for an hour or so, we all pick up the pace with a stand-up paddleboarding session, following a family of ducks using their spatula-like feet to get to shore and enjoying the aquarium below, which is full of flying mullet, plants and frogs.

Keep cool at the Kincumber
After people-powering around the waterway for a few hours, we head to lunch at The Kincumber Hotel, which has undergone an extensive makeover. It’s got it all: there are nooks for books, trivia nights, boutique craft beers on tap, staff with a sense of humour, table tennis for the children and a really excellent range of pub grub which includes Healthy Stuff as a main, rather than an after-thought. 

The signature Kincumber salad is one of many clean and green options on the menu.

The hotel, once owned by journalist Mike Willesee, is included in one of the 52 Local Secrets campaign to lure visitors to the Central Coast and, judging by the lunchtime crowd, this secret is well and truly out. Be sure to check out the boutique brews available on tap from local brewers, the Six String Brewing Co, which flings open its doors Wednesday to Sunday offering samplers and selling street food.

The Hairy Goat that inspired the name of the bar at the Kincumber Hotel.

Kincumber Hotel presents trivia nights every Wednesday.

Boutique brews are the order of the day at Kincumber Hotel.

The Kincumber Kitchen is all dark and moody with pendant lighting and comfortable booths.

We do as the staff suggest and share an octopus salad and the signature Kincumber Salad of quinoa, roast pumpkin seed, sunflower seed, roast almond broccolini, alfalfa and rocket before checking into our terrace suite at the Crowne Plaza Terrigal,

Watery views from our corner balcony room at Crowne Plaza, Terrigal.

Terrigal: a place of little birds  

Once settled into The Crowne Plaza Terrigal, which is in the process of undergoing a tasteful renovation, we spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the township of Terrigal – named after the Indigenous word that signifies a ‘place of little birds’ - playing a round of beach cricket and thrashing around in the shore break. We also huff and puff up to the promontory known as the Skillion, a local landmark that offers a birds’-eye perspective over the area.

The Crowne Plaza, Terrigal, is in the process of being brought up-to-date.

Our room has a restaurant directly below it, which is a great spot to watch the thunder and lightning show over the sea, stretched out like sheet metal in front of us. The Florida Beach Bar – or Beery’s as the locals refer to it – is also a-clatter with the sound of pool cues and Powderfinger. It’s known to cater to raging parties on the deck out front, which is festooned with lights, but on a Monday evening the crowd is a mix of conference-goers, out-of-towners and locals loving up their neighbourhood spot.

The perfect beach for a round of french cricket with the family.

At the day's end, The Husband and I reflect on how many holidays we've had to the Central Coast in the past few years and agree they are the type of short breaks that we will look back on for years to come. The fact that it's so close to Sydney only adds to the appeal of chasing the sun up the coast.

Carla Grossetti was invited to the Central Coast as a guest of The Legendary Pacific Coast

Body-surfing the shorey at the main beach in Terrigal.

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Blue-sky thinking on the Central Coast

Family frilled to be at the Australian Reptile Park.

There’s something a little bit wicked about sneaking off on a Sunday for a jaunt up to the Central Coast. While most Sydney-siders are returning to their busy city lives after a weekend away, we’re blasting Triple J, playing spotto with Jacaranda trees and feeling a little bit smug about skiving off work and school in favour of play.

Despite it being a flat-out scorcher of a day, we’ve somehow managed to beat the heat and file away a few happy family memories in the back catalogue for future reference.

Web of intrigue  
The first stop on our traipse-around the Central Coast, on The Legendary Pacific Coast, was The Australian Reptile Park in Somersby, just one hour’s north from Sydney. What the children learnt at this hands-on zoo today adds layers to what they might have otherwise learned from a textbook and then some, with the exhibits identifying Australia's vulnerable species as well as our most venomous snakes and spiders. While snaking our way around the park increased our understanding of the eight-legged inhabitants of the park, the experience of scurrying around the caves of creepy crawlies saw me outed as an arachnophobe from the get-go.

Snakes alive
The displays are fun, informative and categorically creepy as they help identify various species of spiders that have apparently infested our house. Despite reading the sign that 'hairy doesn't mean scary' and seeing the safety net of inch-thick glass, my reaction when confronted with tarantulas is one of abject terror. What the children loved most about this den of predatory arachnids was dropping foreign objects into my hair and freaking me out.  They also enjoyed learning about the park’s long association with the production of funnel-web spider venoms.

If you arrive at 9.45am, you can observe the funnel-webs being milked. Incredibly, since the advent of the anti-venom in 1980 there have been no further deaths attributed to bites from this – the world’s deadliest spider. Go Australian Reptile Park, go.

Other highlights of the park included seeing venomous snakes, a legless lizard, learning about the zoo's efforts to save the iconic Tassie devil, having our photos taken with Polly, the koala and watching in awe as the zookeepers feed Elvis, NSW’s largest crocodile and a gang of ‘hangry’ gators.

The lagoon becomes a broiling pit of hangry gators at feeding time.

After enjoying a welcome picnic of sandwiches and fruit at the Hard Croc Cafe, we motor back out on the highway and head to the Glenworth Valley, which is heaven for outdoor adventurers. Despite being scheduled to go horseriding, the heat flowing down into the valley precludes this an option as the engines of both horses and humans are overheating. According to my phone, it’s 42 degrees in the shade. So the suggestion to go kayaking is the kind of blue-sky thinking that the outdoor adventure centre is renowned for.

Too cool for school
After patting a few palaminos, we follow our guide James on his quad bike spiralling through a speckled stand of eucalyptus trees until we reach a pretty crook of the Popran Creek. We drag our kayaks down onto the river bank and flop in unison into the mineral-rich water for a swim that can be best described as life-changing, with the creek a delicious mix of rainwater from the mangroves and saltwater from the Hawkesbury. I know it’s not rational, but with the alligator feeding frenzy still front-of-mind, I keep a close eye out for any croc-ologs.

What better way to spend a broiling hot day than paddling in a kayak in Popran Creek.

After an hour slicing through the silky water, we board the family wagon for the short drive to Umina, which is still so accessible from Sydney. “You say You Miner, I say You Meena,” says my husband, which prompts a Dad Joke Alert from the back.

Fun, fun and then some
The air smells delicious at the Ocean Beach Holiday Park, briny from the sea and fragrant with the blossoms of the flowering gums. Our cabin is clean, comfortable and modern and the park is purpose-built for kids and parents: think jumping pillows, water park, half-size tennis courts and adventure playground.

The Central Coast has large pockets of national park and hinterland as well as its stunning coastline.

Kiddies' Corner is a safe and sheltered cove at the southern end of Umina Beach.

While our boys, aged 10 and 11, affix their faces into the joyful position for the afternoon – doing backflips on the inflatable pillows, racing each other on go-karts and doing potentially illegal bombies in the pool, we then stroll along Umina Beach until we hit the local surf club, where, for the sum of $6 we enjoy a sundowner at the session the locals call ‘Sips’ while the kids splash about in the shorey.

The park is protected by Broken Bay at the southern end of the Central Coast and the children have pinky-sweared we will enjoy the 4km return journey again along the talcum-soft sand tomorrow morning.

Pub Grub at Patonga
Any pub awarded Best Regional Pub and a whopping three schooners by Fairfax’s Pub Food Guide is worth travelling to. Patonga means ‘little oyster’ in the Guringai people’s language, whose country stretched from the north side of Port Jackson to the southern end of Lake Macquarie.

Patonga is a very sedate and picturesque fishing village on the Central Coast.

The Patonga Hotel scored a whopping three schooners in Fairfax's Good Pub Guide. We concur: Top pub grub.

It's only a short drive to the Patonga Hotel where we pull up a table in the beer garden and observe as a boy and his father walk past with their fishing gear, their faces tanned by the sun; a couple of families arrive with their children dressed in their PJs and a table of touros sit obsessing over the view. We order burgers for the kids, grilled barramundi for the grown-ups and rejoice at just how sedate this setting is, how relaxed and reasonable the staff are and how seductive the overall experience is.

While we can see Palmie and the City of Sydney in the distance, it feels like we are a world away. Worth noting is that you can walk to Pearl Beach from Patonga via a fire trail, a picturesque trip that will take about 2 hours. It’s another reason to return to this stretch of coastline, where we stay until the scene has been smudged away with nightfall.   

Jumping for joy on our jaunt to the Central Coast.

Bewitched by Bruny

Bruny Island emerged as one of the top holiday destinations in Tasmania when gambling magnate David Walsh gave the island state a boost of optimism, investing some of his millions on the Museum of Old and New Art.

On weekends, visitors to MONA - which opened in 2011 - arrive like invading armies. And, when they are done walking through rooms where art, sex, defecation and death are front-of-mind, it's only natural that they might want to become fresh-air fiends on the rugged island that is just a short ferry ride from Kettering, on the outskirts of Hobart.

View from the top ... at Cape Bruny Lighthouse, Bruny Island, Tasmania.                                      

Take a hike
My cousin Patrick Bortignon has lived on Bruny Island for 30 years. He was the resident National Parks ranger for two decades and says he has noticed a huge influx of domestic and international travellers over the past five years or so.

The island's beauty is indeed exceptional with its craggy cliffs and black sand beaches reminders of its volcanic past. Patrick says it's worth making the effort to trudge along the trail to Grass Point, which curls along the coastline and rewards explorers with views of Adventure Bay and Cape Queen Elizabeth. The more energetic can leg it to the Fluted Cape, which climbs steeply to the summit and slices through towering sculptured cliffs.

Walk up an appetite on the walk to Grass Point, one of many trails that crisscross Bruny Island.  Photo: Carla Grossetti

Let there be light
Bruny Lighthouse is another top-notch attraction with stunning views of the island that sits some 3000km from Antarctica. Tucked away on the island's most southern tip, it makes an ideal lunch stop and also showcases the island's rocky extremities.

As well as being a great place to marvel at the forces of nature that have carved the coastline, Bruny Island is a haven for wildlife, too. Spot sea eagles, echidnas, rare white rock wallabies, penguins and seals, pods of dolphins and whales making their annual migration past the island.  Chugging from cove to cove on board a Bruny Island Cruises boat is another way to appreciate this raggedy-edged location.

The isthmus known as 'The Neck' is another spectacular landform and trekking up the timber-stepped boardwalk to the Truganini Lookout is a must. After you've taken some time to appreciate the 360 degree views and tramped down the stairs to the penguin rookery, do read the plaque that honours Truganini, one of Tasmania's foremost Aboriginal leaders of the 1800s. Truganini's life story deserves reverence and demands visitors reflect on the pain and suffering that was inflicted on so many indigenous Australians during settlement.

Take the timber-stepped boardwalk to the top of Truganini Lookout.                                              Photo: Carla Grossetti

Made on Bruny

Although it takes one and a half hours to drive from the north (Dennes Point) to south (Cape Bruny), there are so many compelling reasons to stop the car that it's impossible to experience everything on offer in one day.

One of the best things about Bruny Island is the fact that you can go from hiking in the remote wilderness and bouts of birdwatching to tasting artisan cheeses, fresh-shucked oysters and premium wines all while doing a lap of the island.

When you have had enough of being whipped by the wind and admiring the beauty of the precipitous cliffs, Bruny has many food and wine focal points that have given the island added appeal. Hotel Bruny is one of the local eateries that celebrates the region's bounty and gives it a bit of gastronomic cred. 

The Bruny Island Cheese Co. 

Say cheese

The hotel bigs up Bruny Island with Bruny Island smoked Atlantic salmon topped with Bruny Island Cheese, Bruny Island oysters or Huon Valley field mushrooms on toast. Braised shoulder of lamb slow-roasted in Moo Brew pale ale with pink eye potatoes is also engineered to thrill. 

It's fair to say Bruny became a bonafide destination for food tourists when Bruny Island Cheese Co's artisan cheesemaker Nick Haddow set up an outlet on the island to sell his award-winning cheeses.  Bruny Island was also given a ringing endorsement when the island was featured on SBS's Gourmet Farmer series, which Haddow co-hosts with food critic turned pig farmer, Matthew Evans.  

Bruny Island Cheese Co. is now a destination in its own right, the cellar door is the place to go for a cheese platter and bottle of local wine. Haddow also sells homemade ice creams that sing of the seasons: think organic rhubarb and bay, quince ripple and leatherwood honey.

Another notch in the belt

Drive-thru oysters? Get Shucked!

If you want to put a lid on your coffee cravings, head up the hill to the Hothouse Cafe, where you can enjoy panoramic views of Neck Beach, the Tasman Peninsula and Mt Wellington.  Those running late for the ferry should screech through the Get Shucked drive-through to order a dozen of Bruny Island's best.

The Bruny Island Berry Farm is also worth a pit-stop for the signature dish: mixed berries in champagne jelly served with cream and ice cream. For those interested in a tipple or two, a visit to Bruny Island Premium Wines, Australia's most southern vineyard, is a celebration of the island's cool climate with wines bursting with varietally definitive aromatics.

Getting there
Bruny Island is nearly 100km long so if you are on a day trip, it's best to catch the 7.45am ferry from Kettering. Early arrival at the terminal is suggested, especially on weekends. For enquiries, phone + 61 3 6272 2322.

Where to stay
Explorers Cottages are simple, comfortable self-contained cottages with a log fire. Located in Lunawanna, on the way to the Lighthouse, the cottages are an affordable option for families. At the Paris end of Bruny Island you will find the Cloudy Bay Beach House, voted Australia's best beach house in 2010.

The convict-built Cape Bruny Lighthouse was first lit in 1838.                                                           Photo: Carla Grossetti