Veranda by the water
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The Story of Berowra Waters Inn
By Franz Scheurer
Lunch in a simple, vine-covered courtyard in Mikonos in 1964 sowed the
seeds for Glenn Murcutt's redesign of Berowra Waters Inn, when he realised
that 'people make a space and become part of the architecture and the food must
be the hero'. So the reconstruction from the original 1920s teahouse, involved
a lot more than a mere architectural definition of a space for the purpose of
consuming food. It required the creation of a room, which was understated, even
lacking, a place that needed the addition of food and people to bring it to
life. Accordingly, Murcutt designed a 'Veranda by the
Water', a serene, cerebral space that embraced the Rousseau principle of going
back to nature. Australian poet Les A. Murray described the view from the
dining room in 'Louvres' in 1984: "The world is
seen through a cranked or levered weatherboarding of explosive glass angled
floor-to-ceiling. Horizons which metre the dazzling
outdoors into green-edged couplets". Berowra
Waters Inn brought together an outstanding waterscape, fine dining and
understated architecture, to form a uniquely Australian work of art.
In the mid 1970s (at the same time as Deep Purple was singing 'Smoke on
the Water'), a young Gay and Tony Bilson left the
city, commissioned Murcutt to redevelop the dilapidated
teahouse on a remote stretch of the Hawkesbury River, and opened Berowra Waters Inn, deciding to run it as an 'art event'.
Tony Bilson left and Janni
Kyritsis joined Gay to head the kitchen in 1982. In 1985 they won the first
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide's 'Restaurant of the Year' and were
awarded 3 hats, a rating that Kyritsis maintained throughout the rest of his
career. It was with great sadness by all who had been involved in it's extraordinary life that Berowra
Waters Inn was sold in 1994, sinking slowly into Australia's culinary
mythology.
In a different part of the world, on a separate time-line, a young Swiss
chef, Dietmar Sawyere, was
working for Regent Hotels. He'd started working in hotels as a way to see the
world and had already worked in eight countries when, in 1988, he was sent to
Australia. Sawyere worked for four years in Melbourne
before coming to Sydney to open Regent's Park Lane Hotel. Then, tiring of big
hotel dining rooms, he took the opportunity to lease the top floor of the
newly-built Chifley Square when it opened in 1992 and
opened Level 41 (later rebadged simply '41').
"Berowra Waters Inn was the first
restaurant I ever visited in Australia," Sawyere
says, "and it was considered the best. I was blown away. It was such a
beautiful space! When Gay closed it in 1995 I wanted to grab it then, but the
timing wasn't right due to my commitments at 41, which had only been open two
years. It was always in the back of my mind though and, when I saw a piece in
Short Black about two years ago saying the current owners were trying and find
someone to take it on, I told my General Manager, half jokingly, to find out
how much they wanted. Again, timing wasn't great as a major renovation at 41
was looming, and we couldn't reach an agreement. Then Chifley
changed hands and we had new owners to deal with, and another year passed.
Then, on a skiing holiday with my wife, Nicole, I asked 'what do we really want
to do with our lives?', and we realized we really liked Berowra
Waters Inn and the Hawkesbury, so when we got back I gave them a call.
Amazingly the building was only a couple of weeks away from being turned into a
house! The Gods were obviously with us and everything just fell into
line."
The building needed some intensive TLC, and Sawyere
says he had to literally renovate everything except the toilets and the tin
roof. "Murcott called it a 'Veranda by the
Water' and I really wanted to keep that feel. As much as we wanted to keep Murcott's vision, we also wanted to open the room up and
take the dark middle section out. I was aware that the space needed lifting to
make it good for evening dining. We wanted to have working fireplaces and open
the kitchen - apart from the theatre it's good for the chef to be able to see
what's happening out front. We took out the dividing wall, made the back
(formerly Gay's study) into an extended dining room, clad the fireplaces and
extended the outside deck (previously a paved area), with the idea of having
the dining room flow outside. It will eventually hold comfortable lounge
furniture, providing somewhere for guests to relax and have their coffee and
cognac after lunch while enjoying the great view and enabling us to reset the
dining room for dinner. We seat 60 and that's a good number. We wanted to keep
it eco-friendly, with the smallest footprint possible, so we used all recycled
materials. There's a small apartment upstairs and I built a small room next
door for the kids, so we can all stay here on weekends".
One of the greatest problems previous owners faced was the delivery of
supplies to a site accessible only by water. Sawyere
developed an ingenious solution: "At the moment all major deliveries
arrive in the city at 41, and one of my former sous
chefs who wanted to get out of the kitchen is the driver of a dedicated van. He
goes to the markets daily, he knows good produce and what to buy, and buys for
both 41 (which will soon close) and Berowra Waters,
then he drives Berowra's supplies up here. (As of mid
April the about to open Ad Lib in Pymble will
probably become the new central delivery site). This way we control the
quality, we know it will arrive on time and we save money for both restaurants.
Of course we also utilize local growers (we're at the end of the Hawkesbury
Farm Trail) and have everything from fresh local raspberries, pears and apples
to locally-grown nuts. There are even a couple of local wineries, which we are
exploring at the moment".
The menu at Berowra Waters Inn is a terrific
read and the wine list is interesting and extensive. It's fantastic to see this
Australian icon back in the 'Fine Dining' scene with a vengeance. "We
change the menu according to seasonal availability, usually every two
weeks," Sawyere explains, "but the 'Chilled
Vichyssoise, Oscietra Caviar, Oyster Beignets' has
been there all along, patrons won't let us take it away. It has become the
'signature dish', as I firmly believe it's the place and its patrons that
determine this, not the chef. I've even been tempted to look at the occasional
inclusion of a dish from the past, maybe the Bone Marrow 'en brioche'. It might
happen one day. Hanger steak has always been a favourite
ingredient of mine and now I'm finally able to get it. I love the concentration
of taste in Onglet".
At the moment four courses cost $130 or with matched wines $180
Five courses $ 145 or with matched wines $200 and
Six courses $160 or with matched wines $ 225
When I ate there a couple of days ago, I was full after 4 courses; so
the portions are a very satisfying size.
Service is personable, efficient and knowledgeable and despite the fact
that the Chilled Vichyssoise is a terrific dish, I loved the 'Langoustine Pastilla, Sautéed Veal Sweetbreads, Spinach-Fennel Purée', Sawyere obviously likes his sweetbreads as they are
exceptional.
"Staff members are used to handling wild life and boats. A
beautiful possum visited the dining room only last week. Of course we get
spiders, snakes, and all the creatures of the bush as well. The original boat,
a converted oyster boat, is still used, although it has a new hull skin and a
new motor."
And what does the future hold? "We have a 25 year lease on the
property, we want to work within the local area and see no reason why it
shouldn't continue to develop. I've added some accommodation to turn it back
into a real inn. We get asked often enough. It's a special place on Sydney's
doorstep and it should be there for many years to come", Sawyere concludes.
Berowra Waters Inn is open Friday and Saturday lunch and dinner and Sunday
lunch.
I am so glad Berowra Waters Inn has been
resurrected for gourmets everywhere. It's a fabulous venue and having no mobile
phone service there at all enhances the serenity of the place. (just make sure
you organise your transport beforehand, as midnight
on a Saturday night could be a long wait for a cab!)
It's calm, peaceful, and beautiful and transports you to a different
world, one worth visiting every now and then, especially during our hectic and
turbulent times.
Score: 8.5/10
Berowra Waters Inn
Via East or West Public Wharves
Berowra Waters NSW 2082
Tel.: 02 9456 1027
Fax: 02 9456 2027
For more information go to the Berowra Waters Inn Web Site