Fires of Hell: OUTDOOR A HIT IN COUNTRY PUB RENO WORDS: ROBERT LAIDLAW
From an old historic pub to a jewel of the Clare Valley, the Watervale Hotel has been transformed into a “must visit” destination. When Nicola Palmer and Warrick Duthy were dining at the Watervale Hotel in September 2017, on a whim they decided to buy the pub with an eye on a major renovation to breathe new life into the venue. Three years and a pandemic later, that vision is now complete. “It was just a sleepy old pub with less than a quarter of the available space open, so there was renovation potential,” Nicola said. “The original license was for 100 people, now we can have 400. We have a focus on good wine and good food. “We have our own organic and bio-dynamic farm (Penobscot ), which we run on the permaculture principals, to source fruit and vegetables for our salads – we are a farm-to-plate restaurant within a pub.
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“A part of putting in a new kitchen, we also run cooking classes, while outside is a barbeque – Fires of Hell – where we use the South American Asado style of roasting.”
BEER GARDEN AND JAIL One of the space issues with the hotel was the unevenness of the land at the back, which Nicola and Warrick levelled and created a huge beer garden. In the process they excavated 1.7m of hillside – and although they kept the former jailhouse (the Hell-hole!) at the back as is, they converted it to allow full disability access. Nicola, who is the head chef, proved she can turn her talents to many projects. She designed the renovations, with the pièce de résistance being the press tin panelling, which retains the hotel’s historic feel.
SUSTAINABLE Growing up in the region, Nicola has distinct childhood memories
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