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The Weekend Australian Magazine July 28-29, 2012 |
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‘Hot 50: The Restaurants Lighting Up The Country’
"Restaurant lifespans all to often mimic those of March flies, which makes this gem’s 17 years in a small dairy-and-hippie town on the NSW mid-north coast all the more remarkable. Equally remarkable is that he second generation of the Urquhart family, chef Michael and his front-of-house sister Shani – just nippers when it opened – have stepped into the breach, taking over the roles of their parents, Ray and Toni, after illness intervened last year. Set in a charming, century old timber cottage, it offers remarkable value for its sophisticated yet earthy food, anchored in the local produce. From duck sausage on braised borlotti beans to oxtail ravioli with bone marrow and jus, or the local Milly Hill lamb, barbequed, on black quinoa, to service that sweeps you up in its friendliness, No 2 Oak Street is a remarkable achievement."
Must-eat: Positano Seafood Stew
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Australian Gourmet Traveller 2013 Australian Restaurant Guide |
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No 2 Oak Street (Awarded a star and a goblet)
"This quintessential country cottage houses a simple dining room of high cream walls, leadlight windows and closely set tables glowing with tea lights. From the terracotta pots of warm, fluffy bread to the way special requests are handles, professional wait staff make guests feel welcome and relaxed. Two strips of house-cured ocean trout look pretty with a bold stripe of crushed almonds and yoghurt and a shot of creamy, grainy almond gazpacho; wasabi granita cuts through briny, freshly shucked local oysters; and earthy baby beetroot and pressed ham hock contrast with juicy finger-lickin’ barbequed quail. Local lamb rib is pink centred and well rested, while fried gnocchi with tiny green peas is an excellent vegetarian dish. Goat’s cheese panna cotta flecked with vanilla seeds is lifted by a vibrant blood plum soup poured tableside. A small Aussie and New Zealand wine list offers good range and value."
Key:
Star - A restaurant with an element of sparkle as well as professionalism that raises it beyond the everyday.
Goblet – A restaurant notable for the breadth and depth of its wine selection.
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No2 Oak Street Telegraph review 2012 |
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Aa evening mist settles in the Bellingen Valley, just south of Coffs Harbour, as we arrive at a century-old timber cottage for dinner.
A blonde-haired woman appears in the soft light outside and for a second I think it's Toni Urquhart, No.2 Oak Street's effervescent host who I met during my first meal here in the mid-'90s.
But it's not. That's Shani, her daughter. I do a double-take. I'd like to declare up front that I regard Toni and Ray as friends. Not that I had a choice. Toni sweeps most of her customers up in her arms and befriends them. My family is among them. She's like that. Toni is the epitome of hospitality. Now it looks like those genetics run strongly in the Urquhart family.
But this can't be Toni because she's at home fighting cancer. Meanwhile, her husband Ray has taken a back seat and son Michael has stepped up to the hotplates.
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54,000 diners can't be wrong |
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Dining at No 2 Oak Street is a sure thing.
Nine national awards, twenty years experience and over 54,000 diners can't be wrong.
The generous hospitality and easy charm are just what you'd expect of a country restaurant, housed in a small timber cottage and tucked away on a leafy Bellingen side street. But it's the ease and sophistication of the food that comes as a pleasant surprise. Ray Urquart has a refreshingly unpretentious approach to food and cooking. On one hand it's simple country cooking, but on the other, something far more adventurous.
Barbara Sweeney Food Editor 2011
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Bellingen has a Byron Bay vibe without the flashiness, Writes Dan Hall.
Stepping into Bellingen's renowned No.2 oak Street restaurant on a crisp, early spring evening is like stepping into a warm, familiar hug. The fire is roaring, the venue is scattered with locals and the dimly lit main dining area oozes country charm — nothing too fancy or contrived about this place, or its food. For those who live in and around the NSW Coffs Coast town, No.2 oak Street has become something of an institution, but the familiarity with which staff greet guests makes the wayfaring diner feel right at home.
on the suggestion of local B&B owners Suzanne and Fritz Dimmlich, who run the stunning CasaBelle Country Guest House on the other side of the Bellinger River to No.2 Oak, our table starts with the Oak Street potted bread with oven dried tomato salsa and roasted garlic olive oil. It's a dish that recalls memories of early morning visits to the local bakery for simple, pillow-soft white loaves
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A verdant patchwork of river bends and rainforest, the NSW mid north coast inspires music, poetry and many big city migrations
The road that winds down the great Dividing Range, and links the towns of Dorrigo and Bellingen on the mid north coast of NSW, is one of the most scenic in Australia. Its name, Waterfall Way, is a good clue to the sort of scenery you you'll pass as you descend through the rainforest to the town of Bellingen near the coast. The 12,000-hectare Dorrigo National Park not only divides the two towns but also links them by water. Streams plunge from the Dorrigo Plateau down to the fertile Bellingen Vally. The park's lush vegetation is part of the region now called the Gondwana rain forests of Australia and home to numerous flora and fauna species.
Looking up form the forest floor, one stands in a green cathedral, the towering trees tracing lacework patterns against the sky. Set out from the Rainforest Centre and you'll hear the bush band: the golden whistler and grey shrike-thrush singing melody, the conga pigeon's single-note solo and the lyrebird on bass. Waterfalls are also synonymous with the area and one of the things Kathryn Wood, manager of the Dorrigo Rainforest Centre and Skywalk, rates as a favourite in the park
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Whatever it is the Urquhart family have, it should be bottled. Owners ray and Toni's children are all grown up, and work in the restaurant as through they were born to it, which, of course, they were. Michael and Shani were toddlers when their parents first opened the front door of this delightful timber cottage in 1995. The family shares an innate sense of hospitality, so an evening here is one that promises fun and good food, from Ray's ubiquitous flower-pot bread (hard to believe how good it is, still warm and slathered with roast garlic oil) right through to the last finger-lick of the espresso syrup that furls around orange-scented goat's curd semifreddo. Between start and finish a succession of robust flavours is handled with elegance: crab bisque-soused prawn revioli, marbled beed with earthy mushroom regout, roasted bone marrow and cafe de Paris butter; and duck crusted in pepper atop shredded red cabbage with hazelnut cream. Everything is delivered with that trademark
Urquhart je ne sais quoi
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Mystery Diner - Hospitality Magazine |
Published Hospitality Magazine January 2010
BELLINGEN IS not your typical New South Wales country town. Its wide undulating streets,lined with leafy trees and hosting some very trendy shops, give the place a dash of Double Bay.
It has become a town of destination since the opening of two excellent establishments which work together in the town’s interests—Lilly Pilly B&B and No 2 Oak Street. A recent visit there was no disappointment.
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True Blue Country - Country Style magazine |
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RAY URQUHART, owner and chef of Bellingen restaurant No 2 Oak Street, is a reluctant interview subject. And good luck getting him in front of the camera. It doesn’t take long before he steals back to the kitchen, leaving wife and business partner Toni behind to sing his praises.
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The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2010 |
25th Anniversary addition
Inside is cosy, but the outside verandah is equally homely, and extension of the warm hospitality for which this restaurant is renowned. As legendary is the cooking here: restrained, carefully composed creations of impeccable technique and wondrous flavours. To start, lovely house-made bread arrives puffing out little pots, with tomato relish, quality butter, olive oil and balsamic.
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