Bar Botanica, a garden café and bar in Erina on the Central Coast brings fresh life to ‘The Fragrant Gardens’ with gelato and gin.
The Central Coast in NSW has long been a holiday destination for Sydney-siders, an easy ninety minute drive from the city’s centre, and with the recent opening of Bar Botanica in Erina, there’s even more reason to take to the road.
Bar Botanica is the brainchild of Julia and Dan Hughes (aka Mr Goaty Gelato), and if the name sounds familiar, the venue is set in the lush garden of Distillery Botanica in Erina, where master distiller Philip Moore produces Moore’s Gin, spirits, liqueurs with Australian native ingredients, Garden Grown Gin and the famous Mr Black coffee liqueur.
The café bar is bringing the ‘The Fragrant Gardens’– once a favoured haunt for locals – back to life with its menu of simple garden to plate dishes, freshly-roasted coffee on-site from the same ‘Mr Black’ specialty coffee bean and Mr Goaty’s gelato and sorbet.
Located in a rustic 1970s mud-brick hut, Bar Botanica has been given a fresh look with hand-painted botanical motifs by local artist, Nicole Berlach, and interiors designed by local outfit, Stewart & Highfield. The light-filled space is abundant with greenery – with a variety of plant life available to take home.
Owners Julia and Dan Hughes moved to the Central Coast from Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs where Dan worked for Three Blue Ducks in Bronte before turning his hand to gelato. His English upbringing and classic French chef training has influenced the menu along with the fresh seasonal produce grown in the garden and the gin made at the neighbouring distillery.
Bar Botanica’s casual dining is themed on an ‘elevenses’ concept, an old English term referring to a light snack taken at eleven in the morning. The food menu features classic dishes inspired by places Dan’s previous work locations, from restaurants and five-star hotels to private homes in London, Monaco, Spain, France and Switzerland.
Menu highlights include a chicken liver parfait with Distillery Botanica blackcurrant liqueur; a traditional ploughman’s lunch incorporating a Moore’s Gin-spiked cheddar crafted from local producers Little Creek Cheese; garden-marinated olives; chicken, tarragon and mustard leaf sandwich; seasonal salads; house-made preserves and accompaniments; plus 14 house-made flavours of gelato and sorbet, along with daily baked pastries, tarts and cakes.
Currently the café is awaiting its liquor licence and once granted, the offerings will include Distillery Botanica gin, Hunter Valley wines and local Six String beer.
Bar Botanica
25 Portsmouth Road, Erina
barbotanica.com.au
Hours: Wednesday to Sunday from 10am until 4pm
Photo Credit: Jacs Powell
