In the cool rolling hills of the NSW Southern Highlands, the reborn Sutton Forest Inn – with its famous new neighbour, one Nicole Kidman – is redefining pub fare one elegant dish at a time. Words by Justin Wastnage, who paid his own way and visited anonomously.
The NSW Southern Highlands has a host of high-end eating options but no real mid-range, convenient alternative to Macca’s – and while eating at the Sutton Forest service station does have its highlights, for most it’s just a handy stopover between Canberra and Sydney. That all changed in June 2008, however, when the Sutton Forest Inn changed hands and Jason Grumley-Grennan, former executive chef at Sydney’s Summit restaurant, took over the pub’s bistro in his first solo venture.
His ongoing vision is to bring the gastropub trend from his native England. "There are lots of great restaurants in Australia and loads of good pubs to drink in," he says. "But there aren’t many pubs that offer restaurant-quality food."
The ethos is simple: an unpretentious pub with a bistro menu. The first part is certainly on the money – the Sutton Forest Inn is an unremarkable building from the road and its dark wood and tartan carpet décor date it. These will go in time, says Grumley-Grennan, but his first concern had been to overhaul the menu.
Calling his cuisine bistro is to do a disservice. At first glance an entrée of prawn salad or salt and pepper squid could have been plucked from any pub menu in the country. But when it’s brought out, it’s clearly something different. Spiced prawns are paired with salmon marinated in miso paste and both sit on a bed of delicately julienned paw-paw and cucumber. The mildest of satay sauces with a hint of mint finishes off the dish. These are complex flavours, rather than a mayonnaise-laced prawn cocktail.
To read the full review, please visit Australian Traveller by clicking here.
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