Take your time choosing your preferred tipple at Paranormal Wines in Campbell. Photo: Ash St George.
Paranormal Wines is a local favourite of Campbell residents who come for the out-of-this-world wine list of natural and low-intervention wines and the on-point food menu of snacks and seasonal plates.
The small kitchen is ordinarily staffed by chef Aidan Kidson, but he and his partner are about to welcome their first child so the team needed someone to fill Aidan’s chef’s clogs while he’s off on paternity leave.
The solution is a two-month residency, and they were lucky to land a local with exactly the right credentials.
“We are over the moon to announce that … Reece Inkpen will be taking over the pans for eight weeks,” Paranormal Wines owner Max Walker said.
“Reece has developed a brand new menu for us and we’re super excited to change up our food offering coming into the spring season.”
Reece Inkpen will be spending eight weeks at the helm of the Paranormal Wines kitchen. Photo: Supplied.
Reece Inkpen is a born-and-bred Canberran and completed his apprenticeship at Bowral restaurant Biota. He’s recently returned from a stint in London working at Planque, a wine bar and restaurant run by fellow Australian Seb Myers.
“With both Planque and Paranormal focusing on natural wine, and the food that goes with it, we felt Reece was the perfect fit for our residency,” Max explained.
Reece is also an alumnus of multi-award-winning restaurant Pilot and recently hosted a fundraising pop-up there in support of Peace of Mind Foundation in honour of his Mum.
His time at Paranormal will take the menu in a new direction, although he’s planning on maintaining some favourites.
“I’m definitely sticking to some Paranormal themes like ‘things on toast’,” Reece told Region.
“I’m thinking of something like Murrumbidgee oyster mushrooms on bread with pepper butter and hazelnuts.”
The team at Paranormal Wines is changing as Chef Aidan Kidson (front centre left) goes on paternity leave. Photo: Paranormal Wines.
He says his time at Planque has prepared him well for the casual wine bar style of Paranormal, and the way that the food needs to work “in harmony” with the unique style of natural wines.
He’s hoping to change the menu regularly over the next eight weeks to take advantage of the different wines on offer. There may also be opportunities for new menus to be developed with specific wine producers in mind.
“There will be a couple of snacks and a pretty evolving menu … It’ll be stuff I like to cook, things that I think are tasty and go well with a good drink,’ Reece explained.
Customers can look forward to dishes like raw beef with celeriac and mustard greens, and tarte tatin with bay leaf cream. Reece is also planning a dish he describes as a ‘fancy schnitzel’: crumbed pork neck with a herby green olive tapenade and a rustic country gravy.
‘Things on toast’ is a staple at Paranormal Wines. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
To take full advantage of the new menu and the glorious spring weather, the team will extend their opening hours to 9 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, starting on 29 September.
Paranormal Wines is located at G27/6 Provan Street, Campbell. They are open from 11 am to 9 pm Wednesday to Saturday, and from 12 pm to 7 pm on Sunday.
Find out more on the Paranormal Wines website, or follow them on Instagram or Facebook.
Original Article published by Lucy Ridge on Riotact.
Loading ...
