What To Expect at Alex Prichard’s New South Coast Dining Room

Alex Prichard led the Icebergs kitchen for seven years. And worked in the iconic Sydney restaurant for another four years before that. Now, the celebrated chef is onto his next project: opening Sara Dining close to his home on the South Coast – and adding “farmer” to his job title.

The incoming dining room sits on Moraea Farm, a property near Berry that’s part of the luxury Linnaeus accommodation portfolio. On the site is a verandah-wrapped house with space for 12 and a heated pool, sauna, pizza oven and firepit. And it’s where Prichard’s been tending to fruit and veggie plots for the last 12 months.

“I’ve been loving it,” he says. “I’ve had a few years of playing around with growing experimental types of things [in my home garden], which we were just giving to friends, or every now and then I’d bring into Icebergs.” It’s a little more serious at Sara.

The team aims to fulfill 80 per cent of the restaurant’s produce needs from the kitchen gardens. “If you tried to grow every carrot, every onion, every garlic clove to use in stock, you’d just be mad,” Prichard laughs. “So we’re focusing on the things that we think we can make a real difference with. We’ve got 30 or 40 different varieties of berries … one thing that Australia doesn’t do amazingly but we should. And melons – this last summer we’ve gone through a trial period of growing five or six different varieties of melon, because I want beautifully bright, fragrant melon.”

The “pretty garden” is where leafy greens and quicker-growing plants will live. Then there are pumpkins, peas, root veggies and “trellising things” on plots out back. A native walk is home to strawberry gum, lemon myrtle and cinnamon myrtle – sourced from Indigigrow – and you’ll find herbs at neighbouring property Linnaeus Farm.

“It’s been a fascinating experience for me, being able to see how everything grows, what works, what doesn’t, and also being able to see a dish from the seed going into the ground, and being able to understand how everything I do along the way will impact the flavour of the dishes. It just brings a new respect for food.”

Despite feeling like you’re in the country, dine here and you’re only moments from the beach. “We’re 10 minutes’ [drive] to Shoalhaven Heads, one of the best fishing places on the eastern seaboard; 45 minutes’ [drive] to the Ulladulla Fishermen’s Co-op, which is one of the biggest fishermen’s co-ops on the east coast,” Prichard says.

On the menu, this looks like local oysters served with wild boar chipolatas, and a fresh, zingy salad of raw wild-caught kingfish and tuna, house-made pickles and plums. The mixed crudo plate is where the region will dazzle: Ulladulla-based Craig Lukey supplies blue mackerel, kingfish and tuna. Wollongong’s Frank Musumeci sources Bombo Royal Red prawns. Chris Bolton’s on coral trout, and there’s Paspaley pearl meat, too. If you’d like to pre-order a lobster, mud crab or tin of caviar, you’re welcome to – so you don’t miss out on the “luxuries of Sydney”.

The style of food isn’t tied to any one cuisine. “Ultimately, it’s just dictated by the garden and food that I’d want to eat. We always wanted it to feel like someone’s come over to our place for lunch or dinner, and I just happen to be trying to show off a little bit.”

Bookings are open now: drop in at 4pm for an early dinner or late lunch, come solo or in a big group. And it’s designed with locals in mind, as much as visitors to the holiday-ready region.

Sara Dining is slated to open at 450B Coolangatta Road, Berry, in winter 2026. 

@saradiningandgarden