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Good Living SMH Feb5, 2008 |
Food for love
Passion Plates -
A seductive selection; choose from our 50 sexiest places to eat.
"No 2 Oak Street Bellingen - Pretty century old candle lit
cottage with a host who makes you feel like family in a charming hippie
village. 6655 9000"
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ABC Delicious Dec 2007 – Jan 2008 |
My most memorable meal of 2007
Top foodies share their experiences, from matsutake mushrooms in a
Tokyo sushi bar to freshly caught tuna on the WA coast...
"It
has to be a glorious spring afternoon after I bought a campervan with every
conceivable cooking tool. My wife, Toni, and I drove to South West Rocks,
popped into the Jerseyville Co-op for fresh squid and prawns, then parked on
the beach. With butter garlic and lemon, we barbequed a leisurely feast and ate
it with a crisp NZ chardonnay."
Ray
Urquhart, No2 Oak Street, Bellingen
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Greater Pt Macquarie Focus Magazine - Aug 2007 |
Some
couples are just meant to be. Almost thirty years ago a young apprentice and
his girlfriend had a vision. To travel, to work; to build a reputation based on
expertise, fun and professionalism in the fickle world of hospitality. Their
union has not only seen them creating one of the most decorated restaurants in
New South Wales, but parenting the delightful daughter Shani and son Mick who
are treading similar paths: Shani a
maitre'd, and Mick a 4th year apprentice who assists Dad creatively
each night at No 2.
Ray and Toni Urquhart began their careers
in Canberra, then to ‘The Peninsula' at the Husky Pub in Jervis Bay for 7
years. Rimuwhare, ‘The House of Red
Pine', a country retreat in New Zealand, drew them abroad for 4 years.
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"You may not remember us but we dined with you on the
18th January 2008 on the verandah near the entrance. We both wanted to thank you
very much for a wonderful night enjoying your great food and company. The
crispy skin duck and Oak street potted bread were especially delectable.
As fellow hospitality industry types, we found it
refreshing to see how passionate and involved you are with your guests, your
food, impeccable wine knowledge and selection, and your setting in Bellingen.
This is so hard to find in Sydney restaurants, and
also when hiring staff for our families' hotels as most people can't be trained
to be passionate.
As parents we especially loved seeing you (Toni) run
up the alley, with another couples baby and pram, trying to stop her crying so
they could enjoy themselves. Now that's
something you don't see written in the SMH Good Food Guide. "
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Score 15.5/20
This neatley restored 1910 cottage is home to one of the states most welcoming restaurants. The ebulleiently joyous Toni Urquhart (the guides 2007 service ecelence wiiner) welcomes guests as if they were family, while husband Ray works miracles with local produce. The room is homey, with an open fire on colder nights.
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State’s top Maitre d’ 2007 |
The hospitable Toni Urquhart from No 2 Oak Street restaurant in Bellingen is the Maitre d’ of the year, according to the Sydney Morning Herald’s authoritative “good Living’ Magazine.
Toni won the prestigious ‘Silver service’ Award for the attention she has given her customers over the past 11 years. It’s the first time the award has gone to a maitre d’ outside the metropolitan area. |
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Awarded Chefs Hat & The Sydney Morning Herald Silver Service Award 2007
Awarded to Toni Urquhart of No 2 Oak Street, Bellingen for enthusiastic charming and genuine warm-hearted country hospitality and being a great sommelier to boot. |
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Restaurant of the Year 2006 |
Goes t0, No 2 Oak Street
Bellingen’s ‘No 2 Oak Street’ was named Restaurant of the Year for Northern NSW at the Visa International Restaurant & Catering Northern Region Awards for Excellence 2006 held at the Novotel Pacific Bay Resort in Coffs Harbour on Monday night.
More than 100 restaurants and caterers competed for almost 40 honours at the awards ceremony.
The top award went to ‘No 2 Oak Street Restaurant as VISA Restaurant of the Year while Breakfree Aanuka Beach Resort was announced as VISA Caterer of the Year. |
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One of the familyA touch of country hospitality goes a long way.
One of Toni Urquhart’s regulars, an 87-year-old, has already decided and informed her host – that No. 2 Oak Street is where everyone will gather for her wake. A very, very last meal.
Urquhart, winner of The Sydney Morning Herald Silver Service Award, is quite fond of her ‘oldies‘ and sends them home with biscuits for afternoon tea the next day. But then the unmistakeable host, with her black and white hair, and gregarious laugh, is fond of all her diners, applying a mix of sociology, curiosity and good old fashioned country service to their visits. |
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Good Food Guide 2006 – Awarded Chefs Hat |
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Host Toni Urquhart treats guests like old friends, welcoming them with jovial sincerity into the homely, 1912 weatherboard cottage with polished floorboards, pastel walls and soft lighting. Husband Ray shows similar compassion on the pans, cajoling the most out of top-notch ingredients by imparting just a gentle twist of his obvious talents. |
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