Lees, our Pokolbin restaurant
Lunch on the lees.
Chef Tom Avery cooks three courses to sit beside four sparkling wines aged in the cellar below. Lunch Thursday to Monday, dinner on Friday and Saturday.
The restaurant
Where Lees sits among Pokolbin restaurants
Among Pokolbin restaurants, Lees is built around a single kind of wine. It sits beside the Ember Hill cellar door, above the cellar where our traditional-method sparkling spends three to ten years on its lees, and that is where it takes its name. Chef Tom Avery writes the menu to the four cuvées, not the other way round.
That means food with acid and texture: raw fish, shellfish, young vegetables from the season, slow-cooked meat with something sharp beside it, and desserts that lean on honey, nuts and cream rather than sugar alone. The bubbles in the glass do the work a heavier wine would do with tannin, and each course is plated with a particular cuvée in mind.
It is a Hunter Valley winery restaurant in the plain sense. The wine list is our wine, poured by the glass or the bottle. Lunch is the main event, with long afternoons on the room's edge looking over the vines, and on Friday and Saturday nights the room stays open for dinner.
Hours and prices
When Lees is open
Lees keeps its own hours, separate from the cellar door. Bookings are recommended for every sitting, and essential on weekends.
- Lunch
- Thursday to Monday, noon to 3pm
- Dinner
- Friday and Saturday, 6pm to 9pm
- Oyster bar
- Saturday and Sunday, noon to 4pm
- Set menu
- Three courses, $95 a person
- Matched menu
- Three courses with four cuvées, $135 a person
- Oysters
- Port Stephens oysters, $5 each
Ways to eat
Lunch, dinner or a plate of oysters
There are three ways to eat at Lees. Each one pours only Ember Hill wine, and each one suits a different kind of day in the valley.
Long lunch
The three-course set menu at $95, or the matched menu at $135 with four cuvées. Lunch is when the room is at its best: light through the windows, the vines outside, and nobody in a hurry. Book a noon table if you want the full three hours.
Dinner
The same three-course menu, set and matched, served as the ridge behind the cellar door turns red and the light goes. Dinner is the quieter sitting, smaller and slower, and it suits guests staying the night nearby who don't need to drive anywhere afterwards.
Oyster bar
Port Stephens oysters shucked to order on the terrace, with every cuvée by the glass. No set menu and no booking, so it fits around a tasting or a walk through the vineyard. A good choice if lunch elsewhere is already planned.
The oyster bar
Oysters and sparkling on a weekend afternoon
On Saturday and Sunday, from noon to 4pm, the oyster bar opens on the terrace. Port Stephens oysters are shucked to order at $5 each, and every one of our cuvées is poured by the glass beside them.
It is the easiest way to eat at Lees without committing to three courses: a half dozen, a glass of the Blanc de Blancs, and a view down the rows to the Creek Block. No booking is needed for the oyster bar, although seats near the edge go first.
Oysters and traditional-method sparkling share a lot: salt, a clean mineral edge, and a texture that wants something cold and bright beside it. The Blanc de Blancs is the classic match. The Blanc de Noirs, with its extra weight and only 3 g/L of dosage, is the one to try if you like your oysters with a squeeze of lemon and nothing else.
The kitchen
How Tom Avery cooks for sparkling wine
Tom starts with the wine and works back. The Blanc de Blancs, all chardonnay from the Top Block with five years on lees, has the lemon and chalk to meet raw fish and the saltiness of cheese. The Rosé, coloured by a day on the pinot noir skins, carries red fruit and a little grip, so it can take citrus and richer seafood.
The Blanc de Noirs has the most weight of the four, red apple and almond with very little dosage, and it stands up to lamb, pork or a roasted bird. The Late Disgorged, ten years on lees and bottled with no added sugar at all, tastes of honey and toast, and it is the wine Tom builds his desserts and cheese courses around.
Most of what comes out of the kitchen is sourced from the Hunter and the coast nearby, and the menu moves with what growers have. If you want to understand the wines before you sit down, a cellar door tasting at noon runs straight into lunch.
If a dish makes the wine taste flat, it comes off the menu, however good it is on its own.
Before you book
Hunter Valley lunch, planned well
Book through the contact page with your date, sitting and number of guests. Tell us about any allergies or dietary needs when you book, so the kitchen can plan for you rather than improvise on the day. The matched menu can be poured in smaller measures for anyone who would prefer less wine with lunch.
Dogs are welcome on the cellar door lawn but not in the restaurant. Assistance animals are welcome everywhere. The dining room and terrace are reached by a level path from the car park, with an accessible toilet inside.
A long Hunter Valley lunch and a drive home don't go together. Choose a designated driver before you arrive, or book a transfer from where you are staying. Many guests pair a morning tasting at the cellar door with lunch here and leave the car behind for the day.
For a larger table, a celebration or a private event, the barrel hall seats far more than the dining room. See weddings and events for the spaces.
Questions
Hours, prices and dietaries at Lees
What are the opening hours of Lees at Ember Hill?
Lees serves lunch Thursday to Monday from noon to 3pm, and dinner on Friday and Saturday from 6pm to 9pm. The oyster bar on the terrace opens on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4pm. The restaurant is closed for lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday, though the cellar door next to it is open every day from 10am to 5pm.
How much is the set menu at Lees?
The set menu is three courses for $95 a person. The matched menu is $135 a person and pours four of our cuvées alongside the meal, starting with the Blanc de Blancs and finishing with the Late Disgorged. Port Stephens oysters are extra at $5 each. Every wine on the list is made at Ember Hill and can also be ordered by the glass or bottle.
Do I need to book a table at Lees?
Bookings are recommended for every lunch and dinner sitting and essential on weekends, when the room fills well ahead. You can book through our contact page with your date, sitting and number of guests. The oyster bar on Saturday and Sunday afternoons doesn't take bookings: come in, find a seat on the terrace and order at the bar.
Can Lees cater for dietary requirements?
Tell us about allergies and dietary needs when you book, and the kitchen will plan your courses ahead of the day. Because the menu is written fresh each season and many dishes are cooked to order, there is room to adjust. Last-minute changes are harder on a full weekend sitting, so the more notice you can give, the better we can look after you.
Are there oysters at Ember Hill?
Yes. The oyster bar on the terrace opens on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4pm, with Port Stephens oysters shucked to order at $5 each. Each of the four cuvées is poured by the glass beside them. The oyster bar is walk-in only, so it suits a lighter weekend visit when you would rather not sit down to the full three courses.
What is the difference between the set menu and the matched menu?
Both are the same three courses cooked by Tom Avery, with a small opening plate. The set menu is $95 and you choose your own wine by the glass or the bottle. The matched menu is $135 and pours four cuvées, one with each part of the meal, chosen by the kitchen and the cellar to suit each dish.
Book a table at Lees
Lunch Thursday to Monday, dinner Friday and Saturday. Three courses for $95, or $135 with four cuvées poured.