EXP. restaurant's Frank Fawkner and his appetite for Hunter dining excellence

He was head chef at Muse Restaurant when it first gained two chef’s hats in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide awards but, like many a talented chef, had his own dining vision for the future, as well as the drive and ambition. So, just like Muse’s Troy Rhoades-Brown had done only a few years before, he went out on his own. 

Fawkner and his wife Emma opened EXP. restaurant at Pokolbin’s Oakvale Wines in March 2015 and have been quietly, but consistently, kicking culinary goals ever since. His senior chef is Josh Gregory, who was a finalist in the Electrolux Australian Young Chef of the Year awards in 2015 and was part of the winning Hunter-based team at the 2016 Food Fight.

Fawkner’s latest venture is a collaboration with Nelly Robinson, of Nel restaurant in Sydney, at Keith Tulloch Wines on October 30 where a six-course lunch will be served with matching wines.

“I have grown up in the Hunter Valley and lived everywhere from Newcastle to Singleton and a few places in between,” Fawkner tells Weekender.

He discovered a love of cooking at high school, describing it as “one of my strongest subjects”. At the age of 15 Fawkner successfully applied for a job as a kitchen hand at Mount Broke Wines’ The Cow Cafe, a small cellar door and cafe that was only open on weekends. While there Fawkner completed a school-based traineeship to pass the first stage of his apprenticeship.

“This suited me perfectly as I would catch the school bus there on a Friday afternoon and prepare food and wash up dishes with the owner, Jo, for five hours. Then on Saturdays and Sundays I would work from 9am until 6pm,” he explains. 

“It was great, the owners were a lot of fun. I worked hard for them and in reward about a year down the track I was running services. I knew then that when I finished school I would do an apprenticeship to become a chef.”

When it was time to move on, Fawkner chose Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley.

“It was totally different, with so many chefs and outlets, and I had training in many different areas, from Asian-influenced cuisine to a large grill-style restaurant, banquet and catering and even breakfast,” he says.

“Once completing my apprenticeship I travelled over to London with my wife Emma at the age of 20. We lived in London for a year and I worked for Tom Aikens at Toms Kitchen. This is where I really learned the craft.

“I started as a chef de partie and worked my way to sous chef. I learned the most about cooking while on the line, giving and serving nothing but your best, and also what it takes to make it in this crazy food life I had chosen.

“When we arrived back home there were only two restaurants I wanted to work at, one of which was Muse, and I think it was fate that I ended up there.”

Fawkner started at Muse as a chef de partie and, over the next three years, worked his way up to head chef. But what the ambitious chef really wanted to do was to open his own restaurant.

“When I entered the Appetite for Excellence Electrolux Young Chef of the Year competition in 2013 I reflected on myself as a person, the skills I had obtained, my philosophy, cooking style and goals,” he says.

“I knew I wanted to open a restaurant and the concept of EXP. restaurant was born. In mid-2015, while looking for venues, I heard that Oakvale Winery were interested in opening a restaurant so I arranged a meeting with the owners, Richard, Susan and James Becker.

“Needless to say it went well and they gave me a great opportunity to open a restaurant in the heart of Pokolbin. I finished up at Muse four weeks before opening and only by the hair on my chin had the restaurant ready for its first service on March 20, 2015.”

Fawkner was 26 at the time.

The philosophy at EXP. begins with quality, seasonal produce. Fawkner and his team use local suppliers and grow what they can.

“When these ingredients reach the kitchen we experiment the best ways to highlight quality with the use of techniques that pay respect to the produce,” he explains.

“In the end the team and I want to create dishes that express our love of food, and hopefully we show this on every plate.”

It’s a tough market when it comes to fine dining in the Hunter Valley. Diners are spoilt for choice. Creating a point of difference can be difficult.

“When I opened I knew we had to offer something that set us apart and gave us an identity,” Fawkner says.

“We aim to do top quality food that is innovative with attentive and thoughtful service, but the atmosphere has to be relaxed and the experience should be fun and enjoyable.

“We serve a five- or eight-course tasting menu that changes with the seasons, and we make it fun. Customers can make their own herb butter to lather over the house-made sourdough flat bread.

“The room is minimalistic and filled with local art and handmade local artisan products. From the cedar tables and copper wine lists to the wooden plates and hand-made ceramics, each item is unique and adds to the experience.

“The chefs serve all of the food to the guests – this is our defining difference, along with the chefs bar that seats eight lucky guests who get to watch the kitchen and be among all the action.”

Fawkner also sources garlic from Australian producers and makes “black garlic” on site. 

“It is a type of caramelised garlic that it is made by heating whole bulbs of garlic over a long period of time – this process results in the cloves becoming caramelised black,” he says.

“The taste is sweet and syrupy with hints of balsamic vinegar or tamarind and it can be used in place of plain garlic in cooking.

“We will launch a range of black garlic products early in the new year, hoping it will be accessible for the industry and keen home cooks, but most of all for loyal EXP. customers who love eating it.”

Fawkner’s plan for the next 12 months? 

“I want keep cooking kick-arse food for our guests and become a household name in the area and across the nation. I want to use the restaurant to connect with local producers, artisans and artists so we can work together to grow and expose the Hunter Valley to show Australia and the world what we have to offer.”

The upcoming Luminaries Lunch will be a relaxed affair despite the calibre of the chefs – and the menu.

“This will be the first time I have worked with Nel and I am really looking forward to it,” he says.

“I follow him on social media – his food looks amazing – so I am sure the team and I will soak it all up and learn a thing or two.

“We will both be serving canapés followed by three dishes, alternating each course. The first course is spring-cured Petuna Ocean Trout, oyster mushrooms, peas, fresh wasabi from Tasmania and miso.

“Our next course will match Shiraz Viognier Redgate Farm Duck with mulberries, goats curd and asparagus.

“Then it’s time for our signature cheese course, warm blue cheese custard with brioche and local honey. For this we use a Victorian blue riverine from Berry’s creek and some fragrant marigold from the garden. We serve this course with a dessert wine, but it has the guts to stand up with red wine.”