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Ateş (pronounced “a-tesh”) means 'fire' in Turkish and, considering it’s one of the coldest Blackheath days on record on the day we visit, a cosy neighbourhood wine bar and restaurant featuring food cooked over flames seems like the right place to be. This little Blue Mountains dining room is warm in more ways than one – the terracotta-coloured walls give off welcoming vibes. There are house plants scattered around the dining room, like it's someone's home. The (mostly locally-sourced) produce is cooked in a 150-year-old ironbark-fuelled oven. The service is also warm and friendly. It's the sort of place you want to settle into for the afternoon to share good food, and that’s what we’re here to do.
I’m not normally a big fan of polenta, but something draws me to order it, and it’s a delicious choice. It’s soft polenta, cooked in butter, almost like a creamy risotto, and it’s topped with a mound of different types of wood-roasted mushrooms and chestnuts, sliced and tossed in a vinegary dressing that cuts through the creaminess of the polenta base.
Speaking of risotto, we order that, too, jumping at the chance to sample the Kanimbla Valley truffles it’s served with. The risotto is spiked with small shavings of the truffle, but it’s also topped with the most generous heart-shaped shavings of a big, black, beautifully marbled ball of fungus. What a treat. There’s also a large, round parmesan crisp on top, and a drizzle of truffle oil. Risotto can be dull and underseasoned – this one is like a creamy, umami bowl of comfort.
We order the charcoal-grilled fish served on a bed of cavolo nero cooked in a buttery French-style sauce. The skin is charred, then topped with crunchy, garlicky pangrattato. There’s also a braised oyster blade steak cooked with lentils on the menu, but instead we go for the wood-roasted chunk of cauliflower, which is almost just as meaty in its texture and charriness. It’s crisp and scorched on the outside, soft and nutty on the inside, and topped with a curry leaf butter (one of my favourite combos – fragrant, nutty, herbaceous curry leaf combined with salty, melty butter). The veg is also topped with currants, for occasional hits of sweet tang.
While the food at Ateş is inspired by ingredients and flavours of the Mediterranean, there’s nothing stereotypical or obvious about the menu – the two things that tie together most of the dishes we order on this wintery day are butter and woodfired flavour. What’s not to love?
This is also a wine bar, and while the drinks list isn’t huge, it’s a carefully selected range of drops – the majority from New South Wales. There’s a signature Ateş red and rosé from the very town we’re in, Blackheath (they’re both named ‘FranklythiswinewasmadebyBob’). There are also some whites and reds from the nearby Megalong Valley, Orange and the Central Ranges, and a handful of additions from Italy, France, Spain and Greece. I try a sparkling riesling pet nat from Mudgee, a delicious, light wine perfect for day drinking, and then I can’t go past a local Mountain Culture vibrant and hoppy pale ale, brewed down the road by husband-and-wife team DJ and Harriet McCready, who opened the first brewery bar in the Mountains.
Take note – the menu is seasonal, so it changes regularly. In summer we’ve come across dishes such as octopus with almond tarator and peppers, and housemade jersey milk ricotta with roast peaches and hazelnuts. In summer, you might sit in the pretty courtyard out the back. For now, we’ll stay hunkered down in this cosy hideout, enjoying the warmth, the wine, and the savoury aromas of food caramelising over fire.
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