Lucia Roche Estate
With a wine list that reads like a trip through Italy, generous Italian plates and an inviting space, there's plenty of reason to plan a trip to Lucia.
Overview
Lucia's wine list reads like a trip through Italy, but every bottle comes from the Hunter. "So, it's not Italian wines," says Venue Manager John Samway. "Anyone who visits the Hunter now can try something that maybe they've never had before…You might have tried a Sangiovese. You might have tried different wines that you wouldn't normally get that were actually produced by people right here in the Hunter just five minutes down the road."
That's the pitch at the new restaurant in the middle of Roche Estate in Pokolbin. It does stone-fired, share-style Italian made with local, seasonal produce, alongside estate wines and handmade cocktails, all set among the vines. Samway, who holds WSET Level 3, built the list around the food, not the other way round. "The wine list was derived from the cuisine and represents and showcases what the Hunter Valley specialises in," he says.
"So, although the Hunter Valley is known for its Semillon, Chardonnay and Shiraz, with an Italian cuisine, it was identified that a lot of our local producers produce alternative varieties, Italian varietals, European varietals right here in the Hunter. So, to be able to showcase a Pinot Grigio or a Vermentino or a Moscato from a local producer that's worked with the menu that Chef created is just a win-win."
The chef is Jack Zideluns. His CV runs through Merivale, Society, Hamilton Island, the Boathouse Group and London's Savoy Grill by Gordon Ramsay, and here he's going for something more relaxed. "We're trying to do the concept of a casual, elevated Italian restaurant basically. Fresh pasta, fresh gnocchi, fresh pestos, everything made in-house. Just elevated, but not going to that extreme, but keeping it at that elegant, sophisticated level that everybody- our guests can enjoy, family."
Lunch starts with bread. There's focaccia made with local olive oil, olive-and-rosemary sourdough, and pillow bread made from pizza dough. After that, pick from antipasti like burrata with romesco, wagyu bresaola, nduja and Hunter olives. The pasta list is short: mafalde with pesto, pistachio, and stracciatella; rigatoni with wagyu shin ragu; gnocchi napolitana with cavolo nero; and prawn linguine. The stone oven handles the pizzas, from a margherita to a Calabrian with nduja and hot honey or a zucca with pumpkin, goat's cheese and sage.
Bigger groups can share a whole chicken cacciatore, slow-cooked beef cheek or a 300-gram wagyu rump. Finish with tiramisu, a sticky apple and cinnamon pudding or a scoop of pistachio gelato. The cocktail list follows the same Italian theme, with a pistachio martini, a fig and thyme Collins and a Valley Spritz.
Samway describes the room as a place for everyone, from big groups to quiet tables for two. "We've noticed really early on that people are coming here specifically because it is all Hunter Valley wine. They can get a cocktail. They can share with groups and friends or even just intimate couples that are just sitting here together having a quiet meal."
It also gives the winery-hopping crowd a place to stop between tastings. "Groups of people who are on, like the IHOP and the tour buses that have just come in and had some grazing and food and some more wine or even break it up and have a cocktail," he says. "So, to be able to offer that to customers is really great and it's quite a good drawcard."
On weekdays it's mostly locals. "During the week, it's certainly drawing a lot of our locals," Samway says. "We're engaging with a lot of our local guys, and yeah, on the weekends, it's yeah, because we can cater for all of that and we've got a good size venue. Yeah, it's really working, which we're very happy about."
The team, including Operations Manager Sam Harman, also hopes Lucia will bring the rest of the estate back to life. "The local cellar doors that we represent on our wine list are also speaking about us, which is also drawing more people to the space. Word is getting out, which will draw other people to also, you know, maybe take the plunge and move in next door and make this space a bit of a hub for people to come to because they can do wine tastings here, they can go for lunch here, it becomes a bit of a precinct again."
Images: Lucia Roche Estate Instagram.
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