australiancountry.net.au 111produce. Their range includes more than 80 jams, jellies,
relishes, pickles and preserves, not to mention a killer
plum and chilli paste. The associated cafe serves snacks
and lunches Friday to Tuesday, with the focus on educating
patrons about how their products can be used to enhance
recipes ... think a cheat’s tartare sauce made by blending
mayo with their zucchini relish. Oh, and last but by no
means least, they serve the best coff ee within a long
cooee and on the fi rst Saturday of the month, host jazz
afternoons called Jamming at the Jamworks.
Other spots to sample local ingredients are Suttons
Farm Juice Factory and Shed Cafe, where the apple pie
comes highly recommended, and Jersey Girls Cafe, where
creamier-than-thou milkshakes and cheesecakes, cheese
platters and ploughman’s lunches are the order of the day.
On the quirky end of the scale, the Wallangarra Railway
Cafe serves breakfast, lunch, cakes and coff ee on the
station platform in the NSW/Queensland border town,
while Anna’s Restaurant in downtown Stanthorpe serves
traditional Italian fare in the former Poletti family home,
as it has since Anna started the restaurant as a 16-year-old
year 11 student. Tuesday to Thursday nights are à la carte
off erings of antipasto, pastas, contorni and desserts, while
on Friday and Saturday, there’s a truly heart-stopping buff et
for $30-something a head.
On weekdays, you’ll fi nd former journalist and video
producer John Arlidge and his wife, Denice, in their garden
and vineyard at Whiskey Gully Wines or tending the two
guest cottages they have on their property. They host small
functions and dinners for cottage guests in the historic
Beverley Homestead, which also serves as their cellar door.
On Saturday nights, they wind everything up a notch or
two with a degustation menu that’s heavy on local produce,
much of which comes from the kitchen garden. The menu
changes every week, but each of the six-or-so courses
is matched with a Whiskey Gully wine. “As a discipline,
cooking is not that diff erent from journalism,” John says.
“They both involve creativity and meeting deadlines.” The
dinners are for a maximum of 16 guests and, when service
is over, John might pull out one of the many guitars that
line the walls and play a few tunes.
As a counter to all that eating and drinking, visitors
have a plethora of bushwalking options in the national
parks that dot the region. Girraween, Sundown and, just
over the NSW border, Bald Rock, are all accessible on
a day trip from Stanthorpe. They provide access to the
most extraordinary granite boulder-strewn landscapes
and off er everything from a gentle stroll to a more taxing
hike. The bushwalks come with wildlife sightings and,
at diff erent times of the day, encounters with kangaroos,
echidnas, possums, wombats and quolls are pretty
much certainties.
There’s nothing like a brush with the great outdoors
to sharpen the appetite for more feasting and tastings.
It’s all about balance and, undoubtedly, the Granite Belt
has that in spades.