All images: Kelly Noble
In the outback of the Flinders Ranges where deep orange sands stretch far in all directions, there’s a rustic corrugated iron woolshed, aptly named Woolshed.
It houses a Modern Australian restaurant, which is about to get even more in touch with the land it’s enveloped with.
“The restaurant was known for its Australian cuisine and offering a strong meat-based menu,” said the new restaurant manager, Juan Londono.
“We’re taking things to another level now; it will be more of a farm to plate experience than ever before.”
Juan was a hospitality business owner for the past 7 years before taking a sharp turn on his journey last year.
He closed the chapter from past businesses and hit the road out of the city to the remote outback searching for an answer to being more ecologically sustainable in the industry. Juan found his answer with Woolshed, which he has taken along on his environmentally conscious journey.
“I found the Woolshed restaurant a completely different angle to what I have done before with a lot of potential to do something great,” Juan said.
“We want to have less of a negative footprint in the world and be more conscious in our hospitality industry and for future generations.”
While Woolshed is known for its authenticity and its delicious Modern Australian cuisine, the new revamp will take it that next step further.
“The chefs are building an indoor Native Australian plant garden with the help of the locals,” Juan said.
“There’s lots of things we are doing to try to reduce the waste and reduce transport of the food, such as building our own vegetable garden, separating our food wastage and composting as much as possible to generate more soil for our garden. There is still a lot to do but in small steps.
“The other main focus we are having is with the lamb. The product that we put on the plate is the lamb from our property – it’s a true farm to plate experience.
“While the lamb was always a star on the menu, we will be trying to use every part of the lamb now to reduce wastage. We are looking to introduce lamb pate and lamb neck, and experimenting with a lot of fermentation too.”
Juan said the new menu is a work in progress and it will have a bigger focus on veggies and native herbs.
The restaurant is reopening on March 1 after a month of closure, but will be bringing the new menu at the end of the month.
As well as the food transformation, Woolshed will be offering wine that’s more in line with the new brand values.
“We’re bringing wines on to the menu that are more conscious of the negative footprint they leave in the planet – there are lots great wine makers at the moment using biodynamic farming and great sustainable practices, aligning with what we want to achieve at the Woolshed,” Juan said.
“We will also be introducing more local artwork from those that live around the area.”
The rest of the fit out of the space will remain the same. With a raw feel and rustic interior of timber and iron, it’s as if the menu is making a shift to fit more in line with the venue itself.
Rawnsley Park Station will be hosting a Tasting Australia event together with Simon Bryant. While the event is already sold out, Juan said there will be a lot of exciting events happening through the year.
Woolshed is housed on Rawnsley Park Station which is a base for exploring the beautiful Flinders Ranges. There’s a massive range of tours and accommodation to suit all budgets.
The destination is owned and managed by fourth generation Flinders Ranges’ residents, Tony and Julieanne Smith. The duo took over Rawnsley Park in 1985 and transformed the space from a small, struggling sheep station into an award-winning tourism facility that attracts 20,000 visitors each year.
Tony and Julieanne are committed to environmentally responsible and sustainable tourism, and collaborating with Juan is cement this pledge further.
Keep up to date with Woolshed on Facebook here.
Woolshed restaurant is located at Rawnsley Park Station Hawker, SA.
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