Three Blue Ducks’ Most Ambitious Restaurant Yet Is Built Around A 200-Year-Old Farmhouse

Three Blue Ducks has opened its eighth venue, and its most ambitious yet, at Burradoo Park Farm in the Southern Highlands.

With the restaurant's opening, the hospitality group has completed a three-part offering at Burradoo, joining The Bakehouse and The Farmhouse by Three Blue Ducks already on-site.

It's a long way from where it all began. The first Three Blue Ducks opened in Bronte with just thirty seats, three chickens and a beehive out back, and the team is now marking 15 years since that first opening. Now, the brand's newest chapter unfolds across a 243-hectare working farm, with a restaurant set inside a restored 1823 heritage farmhouse overlooking the property.

Regenerative farming at the centre

Burradoo Park Farm was founded by Annie Cannon-Brookes as a working regenerative farm, a place designed to rethink how food is grown, prepared and shared. Much of the property is open to wander, with grazing livestock, market gardens, orchards and hives all working together as one system.

That system feeds directly into the kitchen. Every dish on the menu includes at least one ingredient produced on the farm, with hyper-local sourcing treated as a non-negotiable rather than a marketing line.

The scale of the planning behind that is not small. Chefs and farmers map out the menu six months in advance, deciding together what needs to be planted, when, so the right ingredients are ready to harvest by the time they're needed in the kitchen.

The dining experience

Set inside the restored 1823 farmhouse with just 45 seats, the restaurant is led by group executive chef Troy Crisante, formerly of Quay, and head chef Rhys Connell, whose background takes in Sepia, Society and Cutler & Co. Both work alongside co-owners Darren Robertson and Andy Allen.

Guests can choose between a five-course Field Menu ($175pp) or a seven-course Harvest Menu ($210pp), with both built around produce grown, grazed and harvested on the farm, alongside ingredients sourced from trusted producers across the Southern Highlands, South Coast, Hunter and Hinterland regions.

The menu leans on a whole-animal philosophy through dishes like Wiltipol lamb with sheep's yoghurt and shiso. Desserts draw on local produce too, with rhubarb, quince and lavender on the menu, alongside a potato dessert built on produce grown both on the farm and by the Hill family in nearby Robertson. On our visit, that dessert came together with crème fraîche, caramel and liquorice, an unexpected pairing that turned out to be one of the more memorable dishes on the table.

The drinks list, curated by group beverage manager Mem Hemmings, leans heavily on local and regional producers, with wineries including Dawning Day Farms, Werkstatt and Henschke sitting alongside a broader Australian and international selection. Seasonal cocktails include the Top Soil, blending agave spirit with beetroot, tomato, fennel and pickled strawberry, and the Harvest Negroni, made with Brookie's gin, bitter orange and lemon sorrel.

Andy Allen, co-owner and GM - Kitchen at Three Blue Ducks, says Burradoo is shaping up to be “one of the country's most exciting food precincts.” 

Allen's own path to the Ducks started on MasterChef Australia in 2012, where he met several of the founders and formed relationships that would shape his career. He joined the business for work experience in 2013, became a co-owner in 2016.

Getting there

We made the drive down in Toyota's new, fully electric bZ4X Touring, a comfortable way to take on the trip through the Southern Highlands and arrive ready for a long lunch.

Three Blue Ducks Burradoo is open for dinner on Thursdays, and lunch and dinner from Friday to Sunday, making a solid excuse for a Southern Highlands day trip, or an entire weekend away.

Image credit: Three Blue Ducks | Supplied