Leading chefs and winemakers come together in the Hunter Valley for an exclusive culinary experience
For one day only, on Saturday 5 September, five restaurants and five local wineries are coming together in the Hunter Valley for ‘Chefs in the Vines’, a food and wine event built around regional produce and the chance to meet the people behind the plates.
Between them, the chefs carry genuine industry pedigree: Jake Kellie, culinary director at Orleana, Kingsford The Barossa, spent two years as head chef of Burnt Ends in Singapore while the restaurant climbed the World’s 50 Best list and earned its first Michelin star. Anthony Fullerton, executive chef at Circa 1876 and éRemo, was named AHA National Chef of the Year in 2022, the same year he led a Griffith steakhouse onto the World’s 101 Best Steak Restaurants list. Thomas Heinrich, of Restaurant Botanica, trained through New York’s Four Seasons before senior roles across Chicago, Vancouver and Canberra. Ed Butcher, head chef at Rick Stein at Bannisters Port Stephens, has spent close to a decade in Rick Stein’s kitchens, from Dorset to the NSW coast.
The chefs will cook across five live stations at Spicers Guesthouse in Pokolbin, with guests moving between each as the chefs prepare and present a signature dish. Held across two sessions, from 12-2pm and 2.30-4.30pm, the experience offers a closer look at how each dish comes together, including the ideas and techniques behind it.
Culinary director at Orleana, Kingsford The Barossa, Jake Kellie said: “Most people never get to stand a few feet from a chef and watch a dish come together course by course, let alone ask why we’ve made a certain choice. That’s what makes this format so good for guests. Add in a Hunter Valley spring afternoon, some of the region’s best wine, and three other chefs whose food I genuinely want to try myself, and it’s hard to think of a better way to spend a Saturday.”
Each restaurant will create a signature dish exclusively for the event:
- Orleana, Kingsford the Barossa: wood-fired Barossa pork kebab with house-made flatbread and seasonal condiments, in Orleana’s signature fire-driven cooking style
- Rick Stein at Bannisters Port Stephens: XO Birubi Beach pipis
- Circa 1876: slow-cooked lamb shoulder, heirloom carrots, kipfler potato and chimichurri
- Restaurant Botanica: hibachi-grilled Western Australian fremantle octopus with roasted sunflower romesco, Botanica market garden produce and lemon myrtle-pickled Tasmanian scallop
- éRemo Restaurant: casarecce pasta ragu (pork and fennel sausage, salumi, nduja, San Marzano tomato, basil, focaccia and Pecorino Romano)
“It’s not often you have the opportunity to cook alongside chefs from different restaurants in one place,” said Anthony Fullerton, executive chef at Circa 1876 and éRemo Restaurant. “We each have our own style and perspective, but we’re all connected by a focus on quality produce and good hospitality. After more than three decades in kitchens across the country, it’s still days like this, produce-driven and a bit competitive in the best way, that I enjoy most. It should be a fantastic afternoon.”
The Hunter Valley’s celebrated wine scene will be showcased throughout the afternoon, with pours from Tyrrell’s, Brokenwood, Mount Pleasant, First Creek and Silkman Wines. The lineup includes two recent Halliday Wine Companion standouts with Mount Pleasant’s Adrian Sparks shortlisted for 2027 Winemaker of the Year and Brokenwood named 2026 Winery of the Year.
Additional wine, beer and non alcoholic beverages can be purchased on the day, or guests may select a pairing option when booking.
Tiarna Spiteri, general manager of Spicers Guesthouse, said: “The Hunter Valley has been producing serious wine for close to two centuries, and events like this are a chance for guests to taste that alongside food from chefs who don’t often cook under the same roof. Between them, the line-up carries a Michelin star, a World’s 50 Best listing, an AHA National Chef of the Year title and close to a decade cooking in Rick Stein’s own kitchens. It’s a rare chance to see that calibre of cooking side by side, in the middle of wine country.”
Chefs in the Vines lands at Spicers Guesthouse for one afternoon only, Saturday 5 September, across two sessions. Guests can choose a food-only ticket or add paired wines at each station, with tickets on sale now via: https://events.humanitix.com/chefs-in-the-vines