Moco Customer Spotlight on how Tweed River House is a MUST for fine diners
An impressive white Queenslander homestead overlooks the Tweed River amongst palm trees and well-manicured gardens. It was originally a home constructed in 1907 and since 1969, has undergone many transformations. Known as Tweed River House, it was purchased in 2021 by the current owners and opened to the public as a fine dining restaurant in October, last year.
A must do dining experience in Tweed Shire
Taking us on a tour around this incredible venue, is Executive Chef Joseph McGrattan. He explains that co-owner Gregory Lording had envisioned an elegant dining experience in the Tweed Shire region as a must do destination. Inspired by his travels around the globe, he wanted to create a restaurant with interiors inspired by Singapore’s grand old restaurants, particularly from the Raffles era.
Bringing a taste of France to your table
With such a breathtaking interior, the menu served must live up to high expectations. Joseph explains, “We’re classic French Nouvelle cuisine. The owners have spent so much time in France and loved France to pieces. As you go around France, you bump into all of these little Michelin Star restaurants stuck in tiny villages in the middle of nowhere. They wanted to create something like that here.”
Serving a world class menu
Joseph has a history of working around the globe. He was initially trained with the Hilton Group before throwing on his backpack and cooking in several Michelin Star restaurants. The Irish chef has traveled to over fifty countries to seek out as he puts it, “the widest breadth of knowledge I could get,” about food. When asked about European cuisine, he explains, “In Europe, everything is grounded in French cuisine, because it’s the highest level of food and the most complicated. Once you’ve got your head wrapped around French cuisine, everything else comes easy in Europe.”
Reaping the rewards
Despite the tough climate caused by the pandemic and recent flooding, Tweed River House has persisted through challenging times. The last thing on Joseph’s mind was the venue being awarded the Chef’s Hat and title of “Reader’s Choice 2022-Bistro” by the Australian Good Food and Travel Guide within its first year of operation. “The fact that those reviews happened in the first 3 months of being opened, especially during COVID and the other issues that have happened, is remarkable,” he explains. What does it take to achieve that level of recognition? “We felt that if we set out to do something special and wonderful, the awards will come. Just hard work, good attention to detail and top-class quality produce all the time.”
Their relationship with Moco Food Services
Equally important to such attributes, is having a good relationship with a reliable wholesale restaurant food distributor that assists in sourcing crucial ingredients for your dishes. “Service and value are always the biggest things to me when dealing with anyone. Moco’s service has been second to none. Rodney (Moco’s Business Development Manager) has gone out of his way on many occasions. Moco is consistent on delivery times, and pricing, and are constantly there to help me out, in any way I need. Moco goes out of their way to source what I need and bring them in for me. It’s been a fantastic setup from the very start.”
Joseph is a huge fan of Moco’s ecommerce platform thanks to easy navigation, lists feature and convenience. “Honestly, it’s the best one I’ve used out of anyone’s. It makes my life ten times easier. I can walk about the kitchen and do my orders on the phone instead of having to fool around and do purchase orders. The app has my lists in it, with the things I use all the time. I can just go through it, and it stops me from forgetting things too!”
Navigating the unexpected and the future
The restaurant returned to normal operations on Friday 1st April after the floodwaters finally receded. The dining area itself was relatively unaffected as the flood levels had reached no further than the top step, however the raised building’s underside along with the gardens and storage were adversely affected. Joseph remarks, “The local community here is incredible. Everyone rolled up their sleeves and dug everybody out.”
Looking to the future, Joseph and the owners share a common dream. Joseph sees Tweed River House, “As a thriving destination restaurant. As a place, that if you’re coming to the Northern Rivers, it’s a place that is a must do, if you’re here on holiday. That’s where I see the restaurant going.”
All images have been provided by and used with the permission of Tweed River House.
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