Lovedale Steps Out From Polkolbin's Shadow - Newcastle Herald
The future of its annual long lunch is in doubt but this rural suburb is a tourist hotspot. Lisa Rockman finds out why.
Lovedale Long Lunch put the Hunter Valley suburb on the map. That was the intention. The two-day event attracts up to 20,000 people to the area each May.
But has the suburb often referred to as the "Heart of the Hunter" outgrown its biggest drawcard?
Not content to rest on their "long lunch” laurels, the many businesses that call Lovedale home are joining forces to promote their particular patch of Hunter Valley paradise, much like the Broke Fordwich corner has done with A Little Bit of Broke.
They've been spurred on by interest in the Lovedale Farm development, a $1 billion golf, resort and residential development expected to open In 2028, and the ingenuity of Lovedale Business Chamber president Matt Dillow.
The chef and restaurateur is also owner and managing director of Gartelmann Wines and owner of The Deck Cafe at Lovedale.
"What's Lovedale's biggest drawcard? The Hunter Expressway, which brought Lovedale 20 minutes closer to Newcastle,” Dillow told Food & Wine.
"It's the best thing that happened to the Hunter. Newcastle is just 35 minutes away.”
Dillow has many pots on the boil at any one time. He prides himself on thinking outside the square when it comes to promoting his business interests and Lovedale as a whole, hosting everything from cooking classes and seafood nights to private degustations and fortified wine and chocolate experiences in his cellar door.
He says The Deck Cafe is "a busy little place, we don't do less than 300 breakfasts on a Sunday".
"With 150-plus wineries to compete against in the Hunter Valley, you need to stand out and do something different,” he said.
"As president of the chamber of commerce we organise lots of get-togethers with Lovedale businesses, and we try to collaborate on events.
"The last 12 weeks, I think, have been the busiest I've ever seen in the Hunter Valley. People aren't travelling too far from Sydney because they're worried about fuel, and I've spoken to people who are not going on big trips In their caravans because they’re worried about getting stuck somewhere.
"Regions within a stone's throw of Sydney are benefitting from that."
Dillow reckons the Hunter Valley, in particular Lovedale, is also profiting from largescale developments like Lovedale Farm.
"Another golf course is fantastic for the area." he said.
"I've got a group of friends who come up for lunch here on Sunday, and then they play golf in the Hunter Valley on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at Rydges, Cypress Lakes and The Vintage.
"It's cheaper for them as they're not paying the higher weekend rates, and we’re getting midweek business. Putting another golf course in the area just makes it more attractive - they'll stay four days rather than three."
Lovedale Farm has achieved more than $27 million in sales since opening its first display home in March, and 85 per cent of stage one has sold.
Jim Hunter is managing director of Capital Corporation, the company behind Lovedale Farm. He grew up on the Central Coast and is a long-time visitor to the Hunter Valley.
Capital Corporation bought the 600-acre Wine Country Drive property In 2004 when it was a dairy farm.
"Lovedale is iconic. It's a place you fall in love with more and more every time you visit,” Hunter said.
The beautiful native grasses, the livestock, the gums, the eucalyptus trees … it's a little piece of heaven. I feel like It's the Hunter Valley's best-kept secret, or at least it was!"
Hunter said it was an easier decision for Sydneysiders to head north rather than south, "simply because of all the new infrastructure that's been put in place".
The investment going into Lovedale is really putting iron the map as a suburb,” he said.
"The expansion of the Vintage, new hotels, Lovedale Farm and what it's doing from a golf tourism point of view - we haven't seen this level or investment in the Hunter Valley since The Vintage, which was 25 years ago.
"All we want to do is add value to what’s already there. lore golf courses means more people, and instead of visiting for a day or night, they'll stay longer.
"We have a phrase, 'the high ride raises all ships', and that's how we think of ourselves - we want to add more weight to what’s already there, and be complementary to the existing fabric of the Hunter Valley."
As for the future of Lovedale Long Lunch, which has paused in 2026, the jury is still out.
"It's up in the air but for 30 years that event put Lovedale on the map. It was introduced to shout the word Lovedale, and it worked," Dillow said.
"Everyone used to think Lovedale was a dead-end street, now it's not. Lovedale Road is the busiest road in the Hunter Valley and the quickest way to get to the golf courses.
"We miss the event, but we don't miss all the issues chat come along with it. If it pours rain we lose 100-grand each over six venues. It's a risk we rake every year.
"And the cost of everything has gone through the roof, which pushes ticket prices up.
"It costs a lot of money to put that event on, to make not that much money. We’re talking, but the jury is still out as to whether Lovedale Long Lunch will return next year."
Ten Reasons to Visit Lovedale
1 - Sydney Brewery's Hunter Valley operation is in the middle of wine country
2 - lt"s home to one of regional Australia’s longest-running food and wine festivals, Lovedale Long Lunch
3 - You can watch cheese being made at Binnorie Dairy
4 - The sunrise hot air balloon shot you've seen on lnstagram Is probably from here. thanks to Beyond Ballooning
5 - Lovedale Farm, which will soon offer an 18-hole championship golf course
6 - All-day coffee at Jimmy Joans on Wilderness Road. named after the owner's grandparents
7 - Breakfast at The Deck Cafe
8 - Lovedale Smokehouse on Majors Lane, a smokehouse deli and gourmet pantry that doubles as a cooking school
9 - Smaller cellar doors. lnduding Gartelmann, Taller, Allandale and Emma's Cottage, where the winemaker often pours at the bench
10 - Trail rides through Lovedale with Hunter Valley Horse Riding & Adventures
Article originally published in The Newcastle Herald. Written by Lisa Rockman.