Award-winning and family run Australian winery, Avani Wines, today announced that Chef Harry Mangat from Biji Dining will return to the Avani Cellar Door for a Spring Series of curated lunch experiences, every weekend from Saturday, 3 September through to the end of December 2022.
Having forged a strong relationship with the Singh family (the owners and winemakers at Avani) over the years, Harry will once again invite some of Melbourne’s most well-known and creative chefs to join the family for these special weekend lunch menus.
Guest chefs will include Peter Gunn (IDES), Zackary Furst (Bar Liberty), Ross Magnaye (SERAI), Charlie Carrington (Atlas Dining), Simone Watts (Barragunda) and Jack Shaw and Ellie Bouhadana (Hope Street Radio). Priced at $120 per person, these one-off lunches will bring the best of Melbourne to Red Hill’s famed wine country.
In preparation for the new series, Harry has spent considerable time on the Avani vineyard and around the Mornington Peninsula foraging and sourcing ingredients to create a special menu which will explore the vast regions of India, inspired by his travels and childhood memories. Located in scenic Red Hill, Avani Wines is known for their minimal intervention approach to winemaking and their biodynamic vineyard, making it the perfect environment for wild produce to flourish.
Of the menu, Harry shared, “Avani Wines holds a special place in my heart and I feel very lucky to be returning to this beautiful place. There’s no better place to source ingredients such as wild fennel, nasturtium, wattleseed and wild garlic than right here in their biodynamic vineyard. I have been amazed by the bountiful wild produce I can pick each day to create the menu.”
Diners will enjoy a four-course shared menu for $95pp with dishes like, Naga pork sausage with pickled onion and mint; Kashmiri lamb harisa with pine nuts, pickled currants and smoked red capsicums; Chana dal and methi roti with cashew cream and masala. And for dessert, a yoghurt custard parfait served with chamomile and a burnt ginger marshmallow.
Each weekend’s menu will be accompanied by Avani Cellar Door’s wide range of cool-climate wines which tell the story of each place and the growing season. New releases on pour are the 2021 Amrit Main Ridge Chardonnay with its textural ripe fruit on the palate and a long, elegant finish, and the 2020 Amrit Pinot Noir boasting dark cherries, floral notes and spice on the nose, with grippy tannins and a long savoury finish.
Working alongside the team at Avani, who Harry likens to family, he will be accompanied by his wife Sandy who will oversee lunch service and operations, making the special collaboration a united family affair.
Of the partnership with Avani Wines, Harry said, “There’s this intimacy that comes from sharing the same values about creating good food and wine. We understand each other, we’re like family, and that’s part of my inspiration for this menu. Representing the best local produce and paired with the best Avani wines, this menu will be sure to also nourish the soul.”
Avani Wines Assistant Winemaker Rohit Singh added, “We couldn’t be more delighted to welcome Harry back to Avani Wines.
“His passion for food and ongoing support of what we do here at Avani means so much to me and my family. We are excited to see what the spring series sees and can’t wait to try Harry and his guests’ food.”
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