The Shifting Tides of Orange’s Culinary Scene
ARTICLE — Dellaram Vreeland| PHOTOGRAPHY — Luke Burgess
Over the past several years, the Central Tablelands town of Orange has welcomed a wave of new foodies who are embracing the region’s cool climate, rich soils and bountiful produce to conjure up some of the nation’s most acclaimed food offerings.
Their passion for food and diversity of talent has solidified Orange not only as a destination of choice among discerning foodies, but also as a hub of international cuisine.
Ruben Lopez Mesa discovered his love for cooking as a child. It was his grandmother, Emilia, who instilled in him some of the most valuable lessons he would carry with him throughout his adult life, leading him to become one of Australia’s most lauded chefs.
“She told me about ‘cocina de aprovechamiento’, the zero-waste approach to food that Spanish home cooks use because of the hardships of the Civil War and the ‘hunger years’,” Ruben says. “Those stories, those lessons, will be passed to my daughter and my customers, and will remain one of the most important, intergenerational lessons I can offer to anyone in this country.”
Hailing from the Spanish town of Pinto, twenty kilometres south of Madrid, Ruben and his partner made the move to Australia in 2009 before settling in Orange six years ago. “After more than a decade working and living in Sydney, we wanted to find a place where we could experience a better balance of life,” he says. “Orange is very similar to my mum’s town, Almodovar del Campo. It’s a countryside town with the same charm you can find here.”
As the founder of Eat Spanish, a non-profit Australian enterprise that seeks to share the wonder of Spanish cuisine through cooking classes, events, webinars and collaborative projects, Ruben says Orange has served as the idyllic home base from which to grow his gastronomic ventures.
“I love the four distinctive seasons and everything you can get here, plus the amazing products due to the high altitude, cool climate and volcanic soil. I knew straight away that this place was home,” he says. “I’m in love with forest mushrooms, fishing trout, seasonal truffles, and great local grapes like Nebbiolos or Cab Francs.”
“Both my worlds, my two nationalities are now connected. And that is really powerful and extremely beautiful.”
The chef behind Orange’s A Table of 10, a dining experience that swoons guests along a gastronomic trip through Spain in the comfort of their own home, Ruben says he has witnessed a marked evolution in the town’s culinary landscape over the past few years. “It is getting bigger and better with the addition of new talent and more multicultural options,” he says. “I’m a massive believer in real food with big and genuine stories behind them.”
“In Ciociaria, the absolute worst crime you could commit is to throw out food. At the end of the weekend, there is literally nothing left.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by many of the foodies across the district. In 2019, Carcoar’s Paolo and Kelly Picarazzi launched Antica Australis, a locanda style dining experience emulated on the casual dining establishments in regional Italy that specialise in local and seasonal dishes.
“I really believed that the [locanda] concept could be emulated anywhere in the world,” Paolo, who is originally from the central Italian region of Ciociaria, says. “As long as you have direct contact with high-quality local produce and passionate local producers.”
After living in Orange for six years, the couple decided to move forty minutes south to the village of Carcoar to open Antica Australis in a restored 1920s haberdashery store.
“We needed to be in a village to bring the Antica Australis vision to life, surrounded by local farms, orchards and vineyards – and one of Kelly’s great-great grandmothers was born in Carcoar, so it provided the authentic connection to place that we were looking for,” Paolo says.
“We created the blueprint of Antica Australis in Carcoar, and we have already tested it out globally to great success.”
Over the last two years, Paolo and Kelly have also hosted pop-up restaurants in the United Arab Emirates, sourcing organic fresh and seasonal produce directly from the private organic farm of the Royal Palace while showcasing Australian beef and lamb and serving fish straight from the Arabian Gulf.
Back home, they source produce directly from local farmers, orchardists, producers and winemakers throughout the Orange region while maintaining a zero-waste approach. “It’s part of our ethos to hand-source and hand-collect our produce,” Paolo says. “We only bring in the produce we need each week according to the number of guests we have booked. It’s a time consuming approach but we think it’s worth it.
According to the 2021 Census, Orange’s population stood at just over 43,000, with 13.6% of households made up of families where both parents were born overseas and 8.6% of households using a language other than English at home.
Over the years, the town’s culinary landscape has become more reflective of this evolving cultural make-up, particularly with the opening of ventures including A Table of 10 and Antica Australis.
But the offerings don’t stop there. The likes of Japanese eatery Raku Izakaya, Korean haunt Mr Lims, Malaysian restaurant Caje Kitchen and The Agrestic Grocer, headed by local Nepalese chefs, further solidify the regional town as a melting pot of culturally diverse gastronomic glory.
“I believe the culinary scene in Orange should be based on collaborations, embracing diversity and offering our visitors the uniqueness we have,” Ruben says.
“It is all about the balance between family and work, which is so difficult to achieve in the big smoke. Bringing cultures together through food is something truly incredible. It is hard to explain, but it makes sense when you see it.
“Both my worlds, my two nationalities are now connected. And that is really powerful and extremely beautiful.”
