To celebrate, we’re having one hell of a special birthday dinner, and we really hope that you can make it along. From visitors from our of town, to the coolest locals a regional restaurant could ever hope for, we thank you all for your continued support in letting us do what we do – WE LOVE YOU!

The Japanese word ‘kaiseki’ refers to demonstrating a range of skills and tecniques in a multi-course banquet meal.

We’re appropriating this style, for our upcoming feast, so we can  showcase to you, some of our old favourites, as well as some future classics, to celebrate our 5th birthday.

It’s going to be one hell of a dinner, so don’t miss out!

Where: Hungry Duck, Berry – 85 Queen Street

When: Friday evening, the 24th of May

Cost: $100 for 14 mouthwatering courses

Book: Call us on (02) 4464 2323 or email us

…and the menu goes a little bit like this:

Marigold petals in sardine and octopus stock
Tea smoked Moonlight flat Oyster, black fungus, jamon consommé
Fruits of the sea – tuna, scallop, ocean trout, kingfish, eel, ocean trout roe
Pine mushroom congee
Homemade steamed pork buns Steamed snapper in vinegared chilli broth
Pickled cucumber, orange and Sichuan sorbet
Chilled cauliflower soup with yuzu pearls
Chilled spanner crab salad with local seaweeds
Red curry of duck
Sechuan steamed rice
Hens liver parfait pickled shimeji and kumquats
Soba noodle, dashi, crisp garlic, wakame
Tahitian and kaffir lime tart

.. so bring your appetite!

6 weeks ago, Dave and Nicole Campbell gave birth to a bouncing baby girl named Wharf Rd Restaurant & Bar, located at 10 Wharf Rd, Nowra.

You can find all the information about the cuisine, brilliant cocktails and THAT view, right here. Have a great weekend!

Among the mentions were our mates at Berry Sourdough Bakery and Oyster Hut of Jim Wild – shucking our favourite Greenwell Point oysters

Here’s a little exerpt from the Channel 9 blog and click here to read the full story.

Shoalhaven

The Shoalhaven region has long been the summer holiday playground for nearby city dwellers, who have been coming to bask on the pristine beaches of Jervis Bay and beyond for generations. Balmy climate, lush valleys and 160 kilometres of some of the purest, whitest coastline in New South Wales, it’s surprising how long the Shoalhaven has been flying under the radar – now it’s a the burgeoning food and wine scene as well.

Berry Sourdough Café – charming heritage listed building, the buzzing café and bakery was one of the first establishments to put the region on the food map. The European-style pastries or the obvious favourite – the woodfire-baked, organic sourdough bread – will serve you well on the road. Otherwise, stay for a lunch of European countryside classics like sourdough welsh rarebit with pickled onions or a Brittany-style fish stew, depending on the season. http://berrysourdoughcafe.com.au/

Hungry Duck – David Campbell, who brings his experience from Tetsuya’s, Billy Kwong and Wokpool, is as passionate about Asian cuisine as he is dedicated to the sustainable food philosophy, with a kitchen garden that customers can stroll through to get to know their food before it reaches their plate and a menu that supports local farmers and producers. http://hungryduck.com.au/

Oyster hut of Jim Wild – Right at Greenwell Point and straight out fo some deep south movie set – tt=hink ramshcackle huts strewn with white oyster shells – there are any number of oyster huts but you have to drop by Jim’s place – ex World Champion Shucker – and legend amongst shuckers. There amazing rock oysters do not get any tastier or fresher and it is a scene to behold. p02 4447 1498

The event includes a tour through our edible garden, with tips and tricks on what works in this part of the world, canapes in the garden, followed bya 5 course dinner afterwards!

Where: Hungry Duck, 85 Queen Street, Berry

When: Sunday the 28th of October, 4.30pm

How much: $100 buys you a gardening tour and workshop, complete with nibbles in the garden and a 5 course dinner afterwards.

Call us on 4464 2323 or email bookings@hungryduck.com.au

Click here to check us out on the Crave website and discover more exciting events happening around NSW.

We’re really excited to be featured in the The Locavore Edition NSW 2012 book coming out later this year. If you live anywhere in New South Wales, now is your chance to nominate your local food producer heroes, no matter where you live. We’re lucky to have so many right here on the south coast! If you know someone, or want to nominate your business, check out the link below.

http://www.locavored.com/nsw-nominations/

For the past four years, we’ve worked to develop a restaurant that presents the finest produce sourced as locally and sustainably as possibly here at Hungry Duck. Thrilled to be a part of this wonderful South Coast of NSW community, we’re looking forward to bringing you another place to relax and enjoy great food and drink with friends.

We’re calling it Wharf Rd Restaurant & Bar. Located on the banks of the Shoalhaven River, just outside of Nowra, we are enjoying breathing new life into the old Harbour Master’s residence, turning it into a space that shows off the beauty of its surrounds, as well as plenty of amazing local produce, to boot.

It’s very different from Hungry Duck, which will remain as our take on fresh, modern Asian food. Wharf Rd will offer up simple, relaxed food centred around our custom-built South American-style barbeque. We’ll be serving up local alpaca from just down the road at Milpaca Farm and prime Schottlander wagyu as well as fresh seafood from nearby – a fun and exciting take on surf and turf, if you like.

We’re currently in the process of fitting out the space (Berry’s Rebecca Riles from Roots & Wings is creating a light-filled, relaxed space to enjoy our food) and testing our new menu, so stay tuned here or on our Facebook page for all the latest.

Wharf Rd Restaurant & Bar plans to open in mid to late August, so we hope to see you there really soon!

p.s. We’re looking for dynamic people to join our Wharf Rd team, so drop us a line at enquiries@wharfrd.com.au with your CV.

http://theland.farmonline.com.au/news/state/livestock/other/packing-punch-on-the-plate/2377735.aspx

A venture between Australia’s oldest privately owned alpaca stud Illawarra Alpacas and fellow South Coast producers Millpaca stud has seen a burgeoning restaurant trade for the meat.

Under the name Illawarra Prime Alpaca, Ian Davison’s Cambewarra stud is seeking the industry’s commercial development with Millpaca’s Ian Frith, Berry.

While both studs initially bred for fleece, they’ve recognised that, as livestock, alpacas must also be bred for meat to be commercially viable.

But the hurdle they had to overcome was the cooking process.

Mr Frith believes chefs have to be trained properly to cook the meat due to its low fat content.

So he joined forces with Hungry Duck restaurant chef and owner David Campbell, Berry.

Together they are “taking alpaca to the people,” training chefs and offering foodies an experience to taste the newest meat on the chopping block.

“David has really been our pioneer,” Mr Frith said.

“I love alpaca capaccio, ribs, osso bucco from the neck, and the sausages are moving really well.”

He said the joint enterprise was averaging five carcases a week.

Mr Campbell made the decision to put alpaca on the menu because it was “something a bit different”.

So far, it has been popular with diners.

“We have had really positive feedback, and people keep coming back specifically to try the alpaca,” he said.

“We are often asked where they can get alpaca to cook at home – we then have to break it to them that they can’t buy it so they’ll have to keep coming back.”

For more on the growing alpaca meat market, as well profiles on an heirloom tomato grower and a report on the Farming Small Areas Expo, see Farming Small Areas – free with the December 8 issue of The Land.

FOOD DETECTIVE: MICHELLE ROWE From: The Australian October 22, 2011

FORGET international chefs such as David Tanis and Alex Atala, the real star of this month’s Sydney International Food Festival was the alpaca.

Sadly, it’s nothing to do with that cartoonishly cute face and a fleece resembling an overstuffed pair of jodhpurs — rather, these South American camelids are being eyed up for the dinner table.

“It was the hit ingredient of the chefs’ showcase dinners,” festival director Joanna Savill tells Food Detective. “I think it’s going to be the next big thing in its own little way.”

Alpaca is already on the menu at a handful of NSW restaurants, according to Ian Frith of Millpaca Farm in Berry who, with fellow alpaca breeder Ian Davison of Illawarra Alpacas, has recently diversified his stud farm to produce meat for sale to restaurants. After supplying about 50 animals for festival dinners, Frith says several chefs have asked to trial the product, a leaner, lighter meat similar to veal.

“We’re not selling it retail; it must go through trained chefs,” says Frith, who adds that the lack of fat makes it a particularly difficult meat to work with, requiring an experienced hand to do it justice.

Chef David Campbell at Berry’s Hungry Duck has had alpaca on his menu for six months.

“There was a bit of a stigma attached at first as a lot of people use alpacas as herd protectors, and they’re almost considered a pet, but once we explained that these are bred for consumption, people were a bit more understanding of it,” he says. “We use it for a carpaccio and a South American adobo braise using the neck, shoulders and shank, custom tailored to our modern Asian style with some lotus and Korean chilli paste.”

Peruvian Alejandro Saravia (see Short Order) is also using it at his new restaurant, Morena. “I like that it’s light in flavour, unlike lamb that can be too strong or heavy for some people,” Saravia says. “Alpaca is the best seller on my menu. I’m cooking it sous vide, 60 degrees for eight hours, and using the juices in the bag to make a jus with Peruvian chillies.”

Detective would be all for trying alpaca herself if it didn’t have a face so spookily reminiscent of Angelina Jolie.