If you go to Lazy River Estate for dinner on a Thursday night, all the herbs and vegetables on your plate will have been grown in the back garden.
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This is thanks to a focus on sustainability and one that has won director Kristen Smith and her team the Green Award at the 2023 Rhino Awards.
In 2022, there wasn't a winner crowned in this category, which goes to show how much business sustainability has grown in importance during the past year.
"We see [a bigger focus on sustainability] in our everyday lives. We walk into Woolworths, it's always, 'have you got your own bag?'" Mrs Smith told the Daily Liberal.
"We've always got to be thinking green, recycling, even at home. So we really need to bring that into our business.
"Council's giving us the tools and bins to separate our rubbish and recycling, so let's take that into the business side of things - and it was just a normal flow for us to do that."
When Mrs Smith's family first inspected the Lazy River Estate property, they "knew it had a lot of potential that hadn't been tapped into"
They wanted to grow the business for a growing Dubbo, and they are well on their way.
"We saw a great opportunity to initiate a beautiful sustainable garden," Mrs Smith said.
The self-proclaimed "avid gardener" had the idea to bring the vegetables and salad into the restaurant, and now executive chef Brad Myers goes down to the veggie patch to pick everything fresh for the weekly degustation events.
"It's paddock to plate for our restaurant, Cultivate, on Thursday nights and for Lazy River weddings," Mrs Smith said.
" ... The fact that you can go down, you can nurture it, you know what's going into the ground and everything that we built."
They even tore all their boxes up to go into mulch for the garden beds.
"I would take all the cardboard that was from boxes that were delivered for stock up in the kitchen area, would bring it down, rip it all up, put it into our compost or line out our garden boxes. So we were just reusing everything," Mrs Smith said.
Right now it's just salad and veggies that are sourced from the garden, including radishes, spring onions, carrots, eggplants and edible flowers, to be used in dishes, and as garnishes.
But the owners - who are Angus cattle farmers - would one day like to produce their own beef for the venue.
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Mrs Smith said the team was "very honoured" to win the Green Award.
"That we had been nominated was unreal. But then even when we won, we were like, oh my gosh, like how can we win? You know, this is amazing."
Cultivate at Lazy River Estate's five-course seasonal degustation meals take place on Thursday nights over two seatings (6pm and 7.30pm). Book online at lazyriverestate.com.au
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Sarah Falson
Daily Liberal journalist. I love telling people's stories. Get in touch at sarah.falson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Daily Liberal journalist. I love telling people's stories. Get in touch at sarah.falson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
