Fine dining at hidden gem: Rockley Pub hosting Local Producers Dinner

For the third time, The Rockley Pub is hosting a Local Producers Dinner, with most of the food served coming straight from nearby farms and gardens.

The event has proved very popular so far, with pub owner and celebrity chef Matt Moran pleased to be bringing something a little different to the table at the established, country town pub.

And being able to showcase what the region offers makes the event even better.

"Whenever we can support the local guys, to us that's really important," Mr Moran said.

"If we didn't have those local guys supporting us, we wouldn't have a restaurant and we wouldn't have a pub.

"So it's a nice way to promote them, but at the same time it gives people in the area somewhere to come and have a bit of fun and eat good food and drink good wine."

Between the food and drinks menu, the local farms and wineries featured include Tathra Place Free Range, Glenbrae Produce, Vale Creek Wines and Grass Parrot Vineyard.

And the rest will come fresh from the river or out of Rockley Pub chef Simon Borghesi's own personal veggie garden.

Mr Borghesi has worked hard to create a delicious offering that will pair perfectly with the wines up for the tasting, and he can't wait for guests to try the four-course menu.

The night will start off with a smoked trout dip on croutons, with Mr Borghesi leaving this dish in fate's hands.

"The reason for the trout is, around here it is really the local fish that we get," he said

"My plan there is to see if I can get some local fisherman together and see if they can get me a good catch before the event. That's literally it."

Up next will be small share-plates, featuring beef carpaccio straight from a cow on Mr Moran's farm in one dish, and a zucchini salad for the other.

Then for the main, a different cut of beef will be used, short ribs straight from Tathra Place Free Range farm.

Accompanying all of these dishes will be vegetables from Glenbrae Produce and Mr Borghesi's garden.

Then to finish off, a cheese selection will be served for dessert.

"Desserts aren't really the focus of these dinners, but we're going to go with a cheese selection for this one so we can showcase some Australian cheeses," Mr Borghesi said.

"It's not quite as local as the rest of the menu but that's just to finish it off."

The Local Producers Dinner will be held at Rockley Pub from 6pm on Friday, February 16, with tickets available for purchase via the pub's website.