Blaq

Housed within Kyah, a boutique hotel in the Blue Mountains, Blaq is a destination in its own right.

Named after its Blackheath location, it's helmed by executive chef Mate Herceg and the mood is strictly local, seasonal, and sustainable—championing mountains produce at its best. 

"We really do have an abundance of sensational produce in the Mountains to choose from and I want to showcase that as much as possible," Herceg explains.

"If a shift in a weather pattern means a particular vegetable becomes available sooner than I had expected, I want to be able to take advantage of that. The majority of our suppliers are located within an 80km radius of Kyah and that’s important to me."

On the menu at Blaq, for breakfast, you'll find things like a Croque Madame worth travelling for, stacked with Berkshire smoked leg ham, gruyere cheese, fried egg, and bechamel sauce. At dinner, it's the five-hour pork shoulder ragu we'll be writing home about. And, when the weather cools off, we reckon Blaq's blueberry cobbler served with rum ice cream and meringue will make the perfect winter dessert. 

The drinks list follows the same local-first philosophy, with cocktails showing off spirits from Karu Distillery at the foot of the mountains and a wine list made up of 100% NSW wines.

Created by consultant sommelier Andres Aragon (Bert’s, Trippas White Group), the list covers a little of everything from the Hunter through to Gundagai, Canberra District, Hilltops, Rylstone, Orange, and more. 

Image credit: Steven Woodburn