Sydney born chef Jonathan Pryor swapped the Northern Beaches and countless inner-city chef gigs for life in a small town on the South Coast of NSW. He joined Cupitt’s Estate as Head Chef eight years ago and hasn’t looked back.
“The food offering from the restaurant to the wine garden is very much designed to complement the wines that are produced onsite,” explains Jonathan Pryor.
“This is at the forefront of my mind when new menus are being written. Lots of tasting and tweaking happens pre menu launch to ensure that the wines produced by our winemaker Wally Cupitt complement the dishes that are coming from the kitchen,” he adds.
Perhaps one of the biggest perks for Pryor is access to a productive kitchen garden onsite that supplements and provides amazing seasonal produce. “The garden is always a huge source of inspiration for the menus,” he says.
“Collaborating with our gardener, Gavin, is a daily ritual to ensure we are using what’s available to us. We change the menu seasonally to reflect what is best in the garden,” he says.
He also sources produce from NSW and the local area, working with local producers, smallgoods makers and fishermen.
Jonathan Pryor talks to The Write Drop for our At The Bar series.
MY CITY
City, ha more like a small town. Lol. Milton on the South Coast of NSW is a beautiful little town with the perfect mix of amazing coastlines and lush natural bushland. The small community is tight-knit, and everyone has time for a catch-up and chat.
FAVOURITE FOOD MEMORY
Abalone with white soy when St Isidores was still open. Alex Delly always wrote such amazing menus. I remember eating it and the perfect balance of sweet, salty and earthiness from the abalone. I love the ocean, so I am a sucker for any seafood, especially shellfish.
FAVOURITE BAR
The Milton pub. Any beer, they make all beers onsite. Sitting with a beer and a view out to Green Island as the sun goes down with family or friends is pretty special.
DRINK THAT DESCRIBES YOU
A bottle of red wine – dark, complex and always changing.
BEST HANGOVER CURE
Hydralite and a bacon and egg roll -plus a surf in that order.
BEST INTERSTATE BAR
Alberto’s Lounge. I haven’t been interstate recently, but this was the last bar I had drinks at. Amazing cocktails and great vibe, I also love all things Italian.
OVERSEAS BAR TIP
Pizzarium Bonci in Rome. Technically a pizza shop not a bar but they do sell beer out of the fridge. You need to drink it on the street sitting on whatever street furniture you can find. Worth the wait to complement the amazing pizzas.
FAVOURITE WINE
Cupitt’s Estate ‘IL Bacetto’ is a Pinot Nero that is served chilled. It’s light and lush, an absolute banger.
FAVOURITE WINERY
Cupitt’s Estate of course. With everything made onsite from wines, beers and food from the kitchen garden it really is a gem that still feels undiscovered on the beautiful South Coast.
NEXT DESTINATION
Tokyo in March. I am heading over with my wife and kids. I know it is going to blow the kid’s minds. It is such a great mix of visiting the future and the past all at the same time. We are looking forward to laughing the whole time and eating and drinking some amazing food.
Tell us about the menu at Cupitt’s Estate and what you try to achieve with the culinary offering?
The menu at Cupitt’s is always based around the seasons with it changing as the seasons change. With a kitchen garden onsite this helps dictate those changes. We try to create an authentic paddock to plate experience that represents local producers and has a bit of a coastal Mediterranean spin on it.
Working for a family run business and why to appealed to join them in as a Executive Chef on the restaurant and food offering journey?
My wife and I were looking for our next adventure, so we decided to move out of Sydney with our two young children and started looking for jobs on the South Coast. I have always lived close to the ocean and love to surf and fish so the South Coast was a perfect fit. My family holiday as a kid was always two weeks camping on the South Coast every year after Christmas Day. I was at a point in my life where I was looking for something more in the way of just cooking food. I always loved gardening and growing my own vegetables and herbs. Cupitt’s Estate gave me the chance to really connect with the growing of vegetables and using them at every stage of their life cycle.
I still remember my job interview with Tom & Libby Cupitt and being a bit nervous but also blown away by what they were offering to guests in the way of an experience at Cupitt’s Estate. The kitchen garden, winery, brewery, and then Fromagerie really filled me with all sorts of possibilities to evolve the offering and evolve as a chef as well.