Spicers Hidden Vale and its popular Homage Restaurant re-open this weekend after being closed since New Year while construction began on the new homestead.
The property is now taking bookings for accommodation and for dining, including lunch on Sundays with live music in the courtyard.
It’s an exciting time for the Spicers team, following on from the fire that destroyed the main restaurant building in April 2018.
After the fire, a new kitchen was added to the century-old barn which had previously been used as an events venue, and this character-filled space will continue to be used at least until the new homestead is completed.
Spicers Hidden Vale, an hour south-west of Brisbane, near the historic township of Grandchester, has a variety of accommodation options, from rooms with mountain views to heritage suites, luxury wood cabins with outdoor tubs and multi-bedroom cottages.
The hatted Homage Restaurant has earned a reputation for its exciting local produce-driven menus and, since the blaze that destroyed their original kitchen, the chefs’ focus on cooking with fire. This year, the open barbecue, fire pits, smoke house and wood ovens are an integral part of the Homage toolkit.
Diners are invited to take a chef’s tour of the extensive market gardens, farm yard and fermenting shed before dinner.
The new landmark emerging on site is expected to be completed later this year, 100 years since fire destroyed the original farm homestead.
The new building will be aesthetically similar to the previous one with a few modern additions.
General manager Claire Sinclaire said it would include the restaurant, bar, lounge area and boardroom.
“It’s an exciting time for us now, we are putting the fire behind us and looking forward to this new chapter for Spicers Hidden Vale,” she said.