Vines Restaurant At Hollydene Estate Receives Top Gong At Restaurant Industry Awards

Vines Restaurant at Hollydene Estate, Jerrys Plains, NSW Upper Hunter Valley has won both the Tourism Restaurant and Consumer Vote Award categories at the 2020 New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory Restaurant & Catering Hostplus Awards for Excellence.
Gary & Karen Williams, owners of Hollydene Estate and Vines Restaurant, received the awards with pride.
‘Since opening Hollydene Estate and Vines Restaurant in early February 2014, we have been involved as
finalists in the R&CA Savour Awards on an annual basis.’, Karen said in a statement following the
announcement.
‘To be announced as winners in these two categories is a huge achievement for us, and fantastic recognition for the Upper Hunter as a whole. As a family owned and run business we take pride in what we offer and work hard to promote this stunning region – not always an easy task being so far Sydney. We are especially proud to have been recognised as the Tourism Restaurant award winner when up against the many fantastic restaurants in areas closer to the City. As a business we always try and source our produce locally and with Paddock to Plate being at the heart of our philosophy the impact of winning such prestigious awards will be felt far beyond our restaurant. We would therefore like to thank our suppliers for providing us with their incredible produce and allowing our excellent team of Chefs to create the amazing dishes they do.
We would also like to thank our fantastic team of staff - who are all local to our restaurant. Without their dedication and hard work none of this would have been possible. It goes without saying we are extremely proud of everyone in our team. Finally, we would like to thank all of our kind and supportive customers who voted for us in the Consumer Award category. Hopefully, winning these prestigious awards will encourage more people to come and explore the amazing Upper Hunter Valley and experience all that it has to offer in 2021.’
More than 100 local restaurants, cafes and catering businesses gathered to celebrate the achievements of
their peers who were judged in over 90 categories, with the winners announced at the Awards for Excellence
ceremony held at The Venue Alexandria.
The Awards for Excellence is a nationally recognised, independently judged awards program that celebrates
exceptional service and culinary talent across the state. The Awards for Excellence is the only program in
Australia where the judging criteria is determined by consumers who rank what is important to them in the
dining experience.
The Awards are judged by an independent team of trained judges who anonymously visit the venues to
determine the restaurant/café winners. The scores are based on the entire dining experience from food to the
customer service experienced when the judges anonymously dine.
Caterers are assessed on all aspects of their catering business including operations, food, service, staffing
and event/site outcomes to determine the catering category winners.
R&CA CEO Wes Lambert says, “Vines Restaurant at Hollydene Estate should be proud of their
achievements. Running a hospitality business isn’t easy, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic – there’s
a lot of effort and energy that goes into to making it work through a crisis. But when you get the right mix of
staff, products, produce and service, the results can be extraordinary.”
R&CA is the industry association representing tens of thousands of restaurant and catering businesses
across Australia. To view the full list of category winners in the 2020 Australia Restaurant & Catering Hostplus
Awards for Excellence, visit the R&CA website at www.rca.asn.au.