EXCLUSIVE
Frank Fawkner, owner and chef of EXP Restaurant in the Hunter Valley, is expanding his presence with the launch of Fawk Foods Kitchen & Bakery.
Set to open in the first week of July, the venue will be the Hunter Valley’s first dedicated bakery and will open seven days a week, catering to locals and tourists alike.
“The Hunter Valley has 70 restaurants and cafes, 200 cellar doors, five cheese shops, four chocolate shops and not one bakery,” says Fawkner. “I feel the cornerstone of every town is a bakery and we’re missing one.”
Ever since opening EXP, the chef has wanted to open a more casual setting, just as his other contemporaries in the area have done, with Troy Rhoades-Brown going on to open Muse Kitchen two years after establishing Muse.
The venue will be located within the Polkobin Village which is one of the only high foot traffic areas in the area and serve breakfast and lunch options accompanied by coffee, cakes, patisserie and bread.
Takeaway will also be available spanning bacon and egg rolls and panini sandwiches. But the best thing is that the cafe will be open from 7am to cater to the local market.
Fawkner says the venue will also sell local Udder Farm milk and has plans to wholesale to other venues in the area once they’re up and running. “Everyone loves using local and we will be the most local,” he says.
They’ll also be selling Fawker’s signature black garlic in bulb and paste forms, crafted using Australian garlic from Pokolbin and the Southern Highlands.