GROUP EXECUTIVE CHEF
ANTHONY
FULLERTON
Hope Estate Group Chef Anthony Fullerton heads up the kitchen at Tower Lodge, and comes with a commitment to working with local, independent producers, small farmers and growers – as well as produce from the Tower Lodge kitchen garden, a project he is keen to further grow. Anthony maintains a proudly ‘farm to table’ approach to dining at Tower Lodge.
Of key appeal to Anthony is taking a wholistic approach to working with premium, estate-grown Angus beef – so the Hope Estate is a match made in heaven for Anthony, who was the 2022 recipient of the Regional Chef of the Year title.
Anthony’s most recent posting was in the New South Wales region of Griffith, where he opened the Bull and Bell Steakhouse and worked with the community of winemakers and growers in a mutually supportive working relationship and sourced local ingredients from within a 300-kilometre radius for its menus.
Image by Jonathan Carroll.
From his home here in the Hunter, Anthony is interested in the life journey of the Angus cattle reared on the Hope family farm in the Upper Hunter and brought to Hope Estate for a 40-day period of premium grain feeding. The idea is to use the grains used in the winery, distillery and brewery to offer a sustainable, waste-free approach to farming, while also bringing in a variety of beef and lamb breeds to maintain biodiversity.
Plans for the estate include an onsite dry-aging facility for a variation in diner experience of the Hope family beef, while a smokehouse will offer the chance for Anthony to create his own salamis and charcuterie range.
The Hunter Valley food bowl offers lots of opportunities to work with the community of local farmers where boutique producers offer up harvests of mushrooms, garlic, microherbs and greens.
Anthony’s approach to the seasonal menus at Tower Lodge is to let the premium ingredients speak for themselves, to celebrate and accentuate the products’ intrinsic flavours and to encourage a shared menu experience amongst couples, families and friends dining together. Daily specials and seasonal variety will bring back diners to try more on the menu.
