Big city chef, old village pub: Why Matt Moran’s bustling country charmer is worth a stop on your next road trip

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The Rockley Pub has commanded its own corner of this little village in the Central Tablelands of NSW since 1872, outlined against the region’s vast blue skies like a castle of old.

But what looks frozen in time is actually all a-bustle, as big-city chef Matt Moran makes a long-term commitment to the area in which he grew up. The Moran family farm, sprawling over creviced valleys and tree-covered slopes, supplies beef, lamb and pork to his restaurants Aria, Chiswick and Chophouse.

In 2021 he bought the local pub, and in 2022 he reopened it, installing Stephen Manley, formerly of Aria and Chiswick, as general manager. Manley oversees a delicate time in the pub’s history as it transitions from past to future. Some smartening-up work has been done, and new chef Simon Borghesi has moved from the Argyle Inn in Taralga.

If you prefer your country pubs ungentrified, you have until next year to get to The Rockley. For now, it’s largely unchanged, with local farm managers letting off steam at the front bar, and the pool table getting a thrashing on Saturday nights. By heading for the dining room, you’re stamping yourself from outta town, as most locals still take their food in the cosy bar.

The chef has a “slowly, slowly” brief, with plenty of pub classics on the menu, under the helpful title of Pub Classics. But now the beer-battered fish and chips, chicken parmigiana and Rockley beef burger share billing with a Chef’s Menu that takes things up a notch.

There’s market fish with Jerusalem artichoke ($42), for instance, and a grilled pork chop with celeriac, apple and macadamia ($42). And a terrific take on deep-fried prawn toast ($20) that tops an entire slice of sourdough with sea-sweet prawn mousse, and sends it out with a little herb salad and a dollop of harissa aioli. It’s a beauty.

Borghesi has a passion for cooking with fire that stems from his time working with Argentina’s legendary Francis Mallmann. I’m guessing he’s behind the idea of puffy, grill-marked flatbread ($28) to share, topped with rocket leaves and finely sliced prosciutto (from the Moran farm, cured by Pino’s Dolce Vita). It’s another substantial dish, easily matched with a beer from the bar or a chilled Grenache Mataro 2021 rosé with a refreshingly dry undertone from Kirk Pengilly Wine ($16/$79).

Me, I’m here for the lamb shanks ($40); the thought of which has kept me going over hours of dodging potholes (I took the scenic route). Lamb shanks are the culinary equivalent of electric blankets, bed socks, open fires and knitted beanies – the things that get you through winter.

Lamb shanks are the culinary equivalent of electric blankets, bed socks, open fires and knitted beanies – the things that get you through winter.

Second chef Makayla Booth is on the pans tonight, and sends out not one but two shanks enrobed in a rich red-wine sauce on a cushion of super-smooth garlic mash. There’s also a ladleful of broad beans from Borghesi’s vegetable patch for good measure. It’s a good dish that straddles the city/country divide.

Scotch fillet from Tathra Place ($45) is nicely scorched under melting puddles of garlic and herb butter, with a grating of Taralga horseradish. More internal insulation comes with a textbook sticky date pudding with vanilla ice-cream and syrupy sauce ($15).

The closest parallel I can think of is the tiny hamlet of Jugiong in the Hilltops region of NSW, where an old pub was given a new lease of life with a clever restoration. The Sir George is now a luxury overnighter, wedding venue, bakery and beer garden, drawing folks off the highway to its door and regenerating the town, while maintaining a “public bar”.

With plans to move the front bar to the side, install a private dining room and cellar downstairs, and develop the ground floor into a dining destination, the Rockley Pub also has a very different sort of future. Here’s to its innate charm and spirit remaining on tap for another 151 years.