Light Years Asian Diner has been booked out "practically every night" since opening in Newcastle in 2021, venue manager Logan Bendeich says.
The restaurant is open seven nights a week for dinner, plus all-day dining from noon from Friday to Sunday. And given its Darby Street location, the drinks offering is taken just as seriously as the food.
"I have a real passion for wine and cocktails, and first started my hospitality career in London working under Simon Difford, before moving back home to Newcastle and beginning my training as a sommelier at the Sydney Wine Academy," Logan said.
"Our bar manager Scott Green looks after the signature cocktails, such as the popular Yuzu Sour which has gin, passionfruit and yuzu citrus - he has been a huge part of the Newcastle bar scene for the past decade.
"I also work closely with our group beverage manager Sean Duncan to curate the wine list, which has a big emphasis on local wines from the Hunter Valley."
The Light Years cocktail menu has a strong emphasis on "Asian flavours, things like chilli and lychee", Sean says.
"There's also a myriad of other flavours we incorporate such as coconut, pandan leaf, Thai basil, Vietnamese mint, to name a few. In The Geisha, ume is the name of the plum and umeshu is the liquor made using this fruit."
Read more: Coastal favourite Light Years ready to dazzle diners
He has some tips to share about pairing wines with Asian food.
"You have to steer away from heavy, tannic reds which actually enhance the chilli heat in food. Go for lighter chilled reds with plenty of juicy, berry characteristics.
"When it comes to white wines, things like sauvignon blanc and pinot gris/grigio work well, but once you try an off-dry riesling with our kingfish ceviche or master stock pork with chilli caramel your life will be forever changed!
As for beers, the fruitier the better with some of our dishes, as well as easy-drinking heat killers like Kirin Ichiban Lager straight from the tap."
Read more: Light Years Newcastle keeps kicking goals
The cocktail list at Light Years is also inspired by the food offering.
"The beauty of cocktails is they are quite flexible and are easy to tweak to really nail that perfect pairing," Sean explained.
"Spice goes with spice, herbaceous goes with fresh herbs, sweet cocktails go perfectly with dessert."
He expects an increased demand for chilled red and rose as the weather continues to warm up, and says Light Years will be "rotating beers from some of our favourite local, independent breweries, and some delicious, fun, exciting new cocktails".
Chilli margaritas, anyone? Head to 7 Darby Street.
Sydney Royal Fine Food Awards
Adamstown Pudding Kitchen have won silver and bronze at the Sydney Royal Fine Food Awards in their first year of entering the competition. Their traditional Christmas pudding won silver and three others won bronze: apricot and ginger, date, and gluten-free.
Adamstown Pudding Kitchen manager Janet Newton described the achievement as "timely, considering the 50-year-old business is experiencing a period of growth and resurgence".
Read more: It's all in the pudding when it comes to Christmas
For the past two years she and her team have been securing large retail orders and contracts in an effort to grow the business. Handmade chocolates, small batch jams and gift hampers have been introduced to the Adamstown Pudding Kitchen range.
A browse of the 2023 Sydney Royal Fine Food Awards winners lists reveals quite a few familiar names: Newcastle's Pudding Lady; Pasta Di Porto; Ironbark Hill Brewing Co; Hungerford Meat Co; Block Eight Estate; Adina Vineyard and Olive Grove; Binnorie Dairy and a host of Hunter Valley wineries, too numerous to list here.
Bimbadgen expands
Bimbadgen won the Len Evans Trophy for Best Single Vineyard White Wine for their 2014 Signature Palmers Lane Semillon at the 2023 PKF Hunter Valley Wine Show last Friday. A limited release is available online and at the Bimbadgen Cellar Door, RRP $65 per bottle.
The Bimbadgen winemaking team have also released a vodka and a gin under the newly-launched Night Merchant label.
"The opportunity for us to be able to experiment with an amazing still on-site means we can start mixing up what we do in the winery - gins in shiraz barrels or even making our own brandy and rhums - the potential is endless to create all sorts of spirits that could help leverage the Night Merchant moniker," winemaker Richard Done said.
And Bimbadgen's Palmers Lane property will soon be home to The Lane Retreat. It is expected to open in late October, comprising 60 premium studio retreats.
Short and sweet
Keep an eye out for Beach Jerky. The trailer popped up at Belmont North last weekend and sold out. It's locally made and flavours include chilli, gnarly chilli, lime and cracked pepper, honey and soy, red wine and garlic, and teriyaki.
Hao Chi by Lee's Yum Cha is opening at 326 King Street, Newcastle, the former home of Chinois Restaurant.
Head to 177 King Street in Newcastle from September 14 for Chiefly East's special street food menu. They close the doors at that location - for good - on September 23.
Bar Beach Bowlo has a new menu and two fresh faces in the kitchen, Bart and Rebecca.
Wine & Dine's The Rosé Trail takes you to Tranquil Vale Vineyard, Tamburlaine Organic Wines, Parched Crow Wines, McGuigan Wines, 4 Pines at the Farm and Talits Estate Vineyard. Looks like fun.
I am hearing good things about The Artisan Farmer at Nabiac, which is a bakery, deli, cafe and bar.
Tickets are still available to the Stonehurst Cedar Creek Long Table Lunch on Saturday. It's a five-course feast with 10 matching organic Stonehurst Wines and live acoustic music.
