Kelvin Foster and Nicole Panetta loved the Hunter Valley so much they bought a block of land here in 2020.
Having spent a decade running a busy Italian restaurant in Mosman, near Sydney, they decided they deserved a "tree change".
They built a home on that block during the pandemic and in May 2022 closed the doors to their popular restaurant, DC's. The following month they relocated to the Hunter Valley.
Time to relax.
And then the "for sale" sign went up at Hermitage Lodge in Pokolbin. Mark and Noreen Gottaas had decided to move on. Their award-winning on-site restaurant of 20 years, Il Cacciatore, closed.
It was an opportunity too good to pass up for Nicole and Kelvin.
"We discovered the restaurant was for lease through our neighbour," Nicole tells Weekender.
"Her sister was looking to buy some accommodation in the Hunter and our neighbour mentioned we were interested in opening a restaurant up here. So we met the family, they bought the property, and it all fell into place."
While Hermitage Lodge's new owners, Vermilion Collective, got to work updating the boutique hotel on 20 acres, Nicole and Kelvin leased the restaurant space and began designing a new business model and menu.
Pescara opened in November 2022.
Here, Nicole and Kelvin cook and serve "fresh, simple, heartfelt" Italian dishes inspired by the Abruzzo coast of Italy and the fresh produce of the Hunter.
"My Dad is from a tiny little village in Calabria. He came here from the southern coast of Italy," Nicole says.
"Italy has so many beautiful, humble dishes, loved by families for generations. Kelvin's love for Italian food actually came from his own experience in Italy. He was quite a good soccer player as a young boy and travelled there playing soccer and fell in love with it."
Kevin has been a chef for 25 years, having "jumped into his craft straight out of high school", while restaurant manager Nicole's family "is rooted in restaurants".
"Kelvin has trained with many chefs in those 25 years, especially Italian," she says.
"He learnt so much from all its regions but the Abruzzo coast was one of his favourites from his childhood. He loved the time he spent in Pescara, which is famous for its coastal flavours, fresh seafood and agricultural produce."
The couple met while working at a restaurant in the Sydney suburb of Leichhardt. They moved to Mosman after opening DC's restaurant there in 2009; a 50-seat, terrace-style restaurant with a modern Italian menu.
"It was actually called Da Calvino, inspired by my Nonna, but people struggled with the name so we shortened it," Nicole explains.
"We had wonderful regulars who loved Kelvin's food. They were such loyal clientele, and many have paid us a visit or two at Pescara since we opened.
"Sadly, we had to vacate the property as it and many other stores in Mosman are being redeveloped into a new Woolworths Metro. Lucky for us, though, it led to the tree change we always wanted."
The couple love the sense of community in the Hunter Valley, as well as the change of pace. It's a far cry from the hustle and bustle of Sydney.
"People have been very welcoming and supportive and it's a great place to live," Nicole says, who admits it hasn't always been easy explaining to long-term Il Cacciatore diners that their favourite restaurant has closed.
But Pescara is now starting to develop a reputation of its own. It was word of mouth, in fact, that alerted this writer to Pescara's existence. I'd heard good things.
Pescara's menu, which Nicole describes as "neighbourhood Italian", includes dishes such as the tuna carpaccio, garlic prawns, homemade gnocchi, baked scampi topped with a lemon, garlic and butter sauce, veal scaloppine (vitello limone), the spaghettini with Australian blue swimmer crab meat, chilli, garlic and white wine, and the tiramisu.
There's also the trota (a salad of smoked rainbow trout, watercress, pear, pickled red onion and almonds), zucchini flowers, the crumbed pork cutlet with creamed spinach and parmesan cheese, and the house-made semifreddo with Frangelico and hazelnut.
Writing about these dishes is enough to get the stomach rumbling.
"Kelvin is passionate about his ingredients, always seeking the freshest available, and is very particular with the seafood and cuts of meats that we buy," Nicole says.
"We have had some great feedback, which is now starting to show as we have more and more return customers.
"We aspire to be a restaurant that consistently serves a simply beautiful Italian menu. It's about the experience at the table; the memories you create with your friends enjoying a meal together that you love to eat."
