OK. I was sick of my working week. Tired of the city monotony – the sea of dark suits, mediocre paper-cup-coffees and less than sanitary train rides to and from the daily grind. I needed an escape from the “real world” to the ever ellusive garden of Zen to unwind. To me this is somewhere peaceful and quiet with waterviews and great food in its surrounds – and I think I may have found it just an hour’s drive north of Sydney. It is Killcare.

Whilst many of you may not have heard of Killcare, you will undoubtedly have heard of Italian restauranteur extraordinare Stefano Manfredi best known for Restaurant Manfredi, Bel Mondo and di Manfredi coffee. He now runs the restaurant at Bells @ Killcare – a gorgeous, boutique European style country house hotel (and very much recommended by us for a relaxing weekend!).

I think 9 times out of 10 a chef that serves exceptional produce is automatically destined for greatness. There is no need to complicate things here. Stefano grows his own vegies in a garden at the back of the hotel, he selects only the best produce from around the globe (our goat cheese was air freighted in from Italy) and pasta is made fresh on the premises.

Our first taster was some smoked ocean trout served on some toasted panini rubbed in garlic and drizzled with olive oil. Simple yet delightful, the trout flesh was firm and screamed with flavour.

We were then presented with a salad of goat cheese, radish and garden greens served with what I believe was a crushed walnut sauce. Unlike any goats cheese I had previously experienced, this one had been air freighted in from Italy and is much milder and softer than its Australian counterparts. The salad greens were picked fresh from the garden, crisp and succulent.

Pacific oysters with a simple eschallot dressing - we couldn’t resist.

Thi was intrigued by the seafood and pearl barley stew with prawns, vongole and mussels. A lovely rich and flavoursome broth laden with fresh seafood and soft pearl barley.

Now we get into our mains (no I did not have an entree – while all the starters filled me up, it has left me more than enough on the menu to come back to visit soon – yes, this meal was really good!). I ordered the duck and pork ragu pasta and enjoyed watching the sous chef freshly roll and make the pasta from scratch. This is the type of ragu that my mind conjours when I see it on a menu. Beautifully rich, delicate and “melt in the mouth” tender it blended in superbly with the velvety strands of fresh egg pasta.

Satisfied with the dishes thus far, Thi wanted to see how a real chef does rabbit. Cooked simply over the grill on the bone (yes very fiddly but worth the prize!) with a coating of lemon and olive oil the rabbit was succulent and tasty

A meal without wine? I don’t think so! It was a warm evening so we stayed on the whites. A 2002 Tyrell’s Vat 1 Semillon to start and as I had more time to explore the wine menu I spotted a bottle of French Vouvray for only $50! The 2006 Marc Bredif was soft on the pallete and I’d say it was borderline semi-sweet! Perfect to trail off the meal in preparation for dessert (nope we couldnt fit in dessert but the staff talked us into it – and yup was definitely worth it!) 

 Feast your eyes on our desserts …

Excited and pleased with our stay, we had to get a signed copy of Steve’s cookbook Seasonal Italian.

Thanks to Steve and the great staff at Bell’s for one of our best meals in 2009!

Where: Bells @ Killcare
Location:  107 The Scenic Rd, Killcare Beach (Central Coast)
Opened: Dinner
Dress: Smart casual
Price: Entrees about $24 and Mains about $35 each.

Written by Rob