Best Steak in Regional NSW

LAST night the team from the Cottage in Scone took out the award for ‘Best Steak Restaurant in Regional NSW’ at the prestigious Restaurant and Catering Awards.

The event was held in the big top at Luna Park with more than 900 people from throughout the food industry including China Doll, The Quay, Tetsuya’s and Bennalong.

The Cottage from Scone pick up the award for best steak restaurant in regional NSW: Back L-R: Danny Harrison, Colin Selwood and Kimberly Maud. Front: Stuart Whitney, Kristitaine Laucht, Fred Bernard and Christopher Barnett.

Colin Selwood, chef at the Cottage praised his staff for their incredibly hard work everyday and said the food scene in the Upper Hunter has a bright future.

“We could not have secured this top gong without the staff we have, any restaurant is only as good as the staff and the effort they put in every day behind me at the coal face,” said Mr Selwood.

“The reality of a kitchen is it is a tough industry because of the hours and the pressure involved with it,” he said.

“We have only been open 18 months and the feedback has been really good, we’ve had great feedback on Trip Advisor and from customers and there are nights where we are totally booked out which is just incredible.

“Events like the stallion parades in town are big for us, but we also love to see people who live in Scone coming in for the first time.

“We’ve been getting a few people from Tamworth, Moree, Gunnedah, Armidale and places like that who come down to us and they get people from down south to come up to us, so we are becoming a little bit of a destination,” Colin Selwood said.

Colin said the food scene is gradually moving further north and he would like to see more specialised local producers in Scone.

“One thing I’d really like to do is to get some more local small producers and local food, places like Byron Bay, the Yarra Valley and the Barossa Valley and places like that are full of little producers that have their produce local restaurants and generating more of that would be great in Scone,” he said.

“Patrice Newell and Michael Reid grow garlic which we use and I source white sorghum flowers from the Liverpool Plains, farming here is on a bigger scale but I’d like to source more local specialised produce for the restaurant,” he said.

“There were other finalists from the Hunter last night including Hollydeen, Estate Tuscany on Hermatige Road and good cafes in Newcastle; so good food is in close proximity and it is moving north,” Colin Selwood said.

Colin Selwood and his team also won the Australian Hotelliers Association award for best regional steak each year he ran Graze at Willow Tree.

Full list of winners and finalists: R&CA 2016 Awards.