“Being true to our philosophy is important to us. Eremo’s hospitality is in the attention to detail, the warm friendly welcome, the connection through food and an ensemble of gestures that define a way of life. Our tables are our canvas and where the journey begins. Our menu is not a list of ingredients or a demonstration of technical abilities, it’s our interpretation of our local landscape, our small piece of Italy – our passion, guide and muse. Our cooking is a collision of ideas, techniques, integrity, traditions and culture, while being contemporary and traditional at the same time. It’s emotional, dependant on our growers, makers, artisans and the elements to provide us with the ingredients we need to produce modern, regionally-inspired food that explores boundaries while being anchored to the fundamentals of flavour and freshness.”

Gnocchi with braised local squid and smoked tomato; Whole Burraduc mozzarella with local olive oil; free-range Merrifield suckling pork with polenta and grilled greens.

At Éremo, the hand-rolled gnocchi and smoked tomato features a hero ingredient: squid that was fresh-caught just under 100 kilometres away at Nelson Bay by Shane’s Seafood. It’s in keeping with the restaurant’s sustainable spirit – and Chef Cameron Matthews’s address book, which is filled with suppliers from close distances. The family behind Merriwa Farm, for instance, cultivates free-range, marbled suckling pork from slow-growing pigs who happily pad about on grass, enjoying organic grains and home-grown feed. Éremo’s menu also features artisan cheeses made the traditional farmhouse way, on-site from Burraduc Buffalo Farm in the Myall Lakes region, while Little Hill Farm in the foothills of the Watagan Mountains supplies high-quality eggs from well-tended hens. Sustainability reigns here: the chef devoted his Churchill Fellowship study tour to learning how restaurants could be less wasteful (while improving staff welfare); so at Éremo, spent cooking oil is converted into biodiesel, all meats are ethically farmed, all seafood certified by The Food Fish Project, food waste becomes garden compost, and the staff have a laugh while feeding glass bottles through the on-site bottle crusher when their shifts end (a therapeutic act that reduces what’s thrown out by 80 per cent). As part of the Spicers Retreats group, Éremo uses an in-house coffee named after the Glossy Black-Cockatoo (with proceeds funding protection of the endangered bird’s habitat) and joins in the company’s campaign to be plastic-free by 2030. The 40,000 straws they’ve reduced from circulation, so far, is already a great start.

“Take in the views of the undulating hills in the distance at Eremo Restaurant, located at the newly restored Spicers Guesthouse. The modern Italian restaurant is run by multi-hatted executive chef Cameron Matthews whose menu will suit those in the mood for food that is Italian with a twist, running from wild weed spaghetti with Fraser Island spanner crab and lemon to Merrifield suckling pork with polenta and grilled greens. Enjoy a bottle of local wine on the side.” –Australian Traveller

Named by Traveller as one of Regional Australia's ten best restaurants with a room. October 2019