Berry’s new luxury 60-seat farmhouse diner claims two hats for the South Coast

With a former Icebergs chef at the helm and a farm-to-table approach, Sara Dining is the first two-hatter for the region, offering compelling value and joining the wave of ambitious regional venues going large.

November 13, 2026

16/20Critics' Pick

Sara Dining

Contemporary$$

The bees have stopped swarming, says Alex Prichard, as he leads you around the garden. The former Icebergs chef probably anticipated a few problems when he quit Bondi for Berry and started planting out Moraea Farm with marigolds, nasturtiums, puntarelle and fennel, but swarms weren’t one of them.

Building a consistent supply for the 60-seat restaurant directly from the beds? Filling a quota for two kilograms of dried passionfruit marigold to hand to Paulina Collier at Berry Tea Shop for a custom blend? Bringing locals along for the ride when your menu features green ants in the crudo, kangaroo tail in the empanadas and retired dairy cow on the grill? No sweat.

It’s Monday lunch, and the chef is in his farm gear. Here’s a herd of goats on pasture green enough to rival the Windows XP wallpaper. There’s Stan and John, two highland cows that serve as the farm’s mascots. In the courtyard, a table of 12 is swiping spoons through honey cake, 10 amaretto-scented layers capped with a crumble of gingernut. Back in the dining room, a couple in their 60s are splitting a spatchcock, its skin darkened by jerk spice and time over charcoal, plated with Burraduc buffalo curd and lime.

This restaurant has been a dream of Prichard’s since he and his wife Angie moved to the south coast six years ago. They’d drive down to Gerringong on days off, go fishing, go to the pub, eat fish and chips, look at the hills and the ocean and think they could just move and figure it out.

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When they did, the chef commuted between Shoalhaven and Bondi, until one day the call came from Peter and Nadia Yannopoulos, owners of Linnaeus Collection, who wanted to add a destination diner to their portfolio of holiday rentals, namely Moraea Farm, a property five minutes from Berry’s main street. (Incidentally, the community Facebook group seems to have as many locals supporting Peter Yannopoulos as it does expressing concern for the parking setup and the septic system.)

Moraea Farm is everything you’d expect from a luxury country retreat in the wellness era. Meditation huts, ice plunges, infrared saunas, open-air hot tubs with wraparound verandahs, private dinners and a larder of local staples. It’s Soho Farmhouse without the annual membership, Flamingo Estate without the sun worship and LSD.

But then Sara Dining – a comfortable if slightly confused mix of textures and shiny surfaces – is its own little thing, open to the public and evidently pumping. On the plate, Prichard (and his chef Lewin White) is treading the fertile ground he cultivated at Icebergs but then recalibrating things to suit the setting. It’s even more produce-led, and just a little less Italian, with the outdoor wood oven at the centre. It’s here where Shoalhaven sand whiting is crisped in Cafe de Paris butter; where a duck-fat potato galette flavoured with elephant garlic is given a final flash; where potato ciabatta rises and sets.

There’s value all over the menu, but Prichard makes a point of keeping snacks and smalls affordable, whether it’s a plate of LP’s kangaroo mortadella (great with the bread and salty whipped butter) for $14 or a lightly battered brassica leaf stuffed with merguez sausage ($10) deep-fried till crisp and oozing meaty juices (good; fun; needs less sausage). Venue manager slash bar guy Evan Stroeve is behind the mini frozen margarita, too, which packs plenty of punch for just $10.

If it’s not grown on site, Prichard has listed the supplier right on the carte. The most compelling section (a la Icebergs) is the seafood, where the raw dishes are the best way to get across the range of line-caught fish. They’re a whos-who of anglers: Chris Bolton on coral trout; Craig Lukey on Ulladulla tuna belly and wild-caught kingfish.

The crudo plate adds royal red prawns and pearl meat (and, yes, green ants) to the mix, but “Jens Salad”, a kind-of year-round prosperity toss inspired by a dish Nadia’s Chinese mum (Jen) served for Lunar New Year, is the one. Prichard spins it through his own mind and the garden to present a pretty plate of kingfish and tuna with flowers and fresh and pickled radishes, tossed tableside with chilli crisp and a plum dressing. Bright, sunny, and a bit special.

If the COVID-19 years saw a rush of chefs running to the regions to launch personal, independent venues, then the past two or three have been about bigger names with bigger backers. Think Megalong at Lot 101 in the Blue Mountains (backed by Kristina Stefanova), or Three Blue Ducks Burradoo(Annie Cannon-Brookes).

Sara Dining plays on the same field, but the cooking keeps it real; there are special-occasion lines, but then enough flex for locals to put it on repeat. Set aside an afternoon, order the honey cake, stay nearby. Just keep an eye out for the bees.

The low-down

Atmosphere: Luxe farmhouse that feels a little too swish on the inside, just right on the outside

Go-to dishes: Jens salad of raw wild kingfish and tuna ($37); wood-fired butterflied Shoalhaven fish of the day and Cafe de Paris butter ($38); honey cake ($30)

Drinks: Garden-inspired cocktails and zero-proof drinks from a crack bar team, plus a wine list that’s locally, organically minded, straddling cult and classic

Cost: About $180 for two, excluding drinks

This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.

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