After closing the doors of their multi award winning restaurant Tani in Bright at the end of last summer, 2017 has been a busy year for chefs Hamish Nugent and Rachel Reed; with the birth of their daughter Charlotte in April, and opening their new bar/restaurant/distillery Reed an Co.
Reed and Co, Rachel, Charlotte, Hamish and Molly
“Closing the restaurant was a hard decision to make, but we decided to close due to the baby and we already had the distillery on the go,” Rachel tells me. Working on their gin REMEDY for a couple of years now, they opened the doors to Reed and Co. Distillery at 15 Wills Street just before Christmas. A bar, restaurant and distillery, they share the space with local coffee roaster, Six Pence Coffee.
15 Wills Street Bright, the home of Reed and Co Distillery and Sixpence Coffee Roaster
Reed and Co bar, restaurant and distillery
“Being chefs we like to play around with things, the flavour profiling of gin is similar to cooking in a way, but very different because of it’s scientific backing. We like playing with different flavours and seeing how things react and do something slightly different that’s still in the feel of what we do. We’re making an alpine style gin, using fresh pine needles, eucalyptus, mountain pepper berry and leaf, there’s a bit of lemon myrtle in there, so it’s got an Australian aroma and pallet to it, but still juniper driven. A traditional London Dry style, but with an Australian backing.”
Hamish keeping a close eye on Molly
The mountains are where chefs Rachel and Hamish met and the reason they ended up in Bright. Originally from Melbourne and with a love of snowboarding, Rachel worked at Falls Creek in the early 2000’s, while Hamish from northern NSW came for rock climbing at Mt Buffalo. He ended up working for Michael Ryan of Provenance in Beechworth and together they opened Tsubo, in Dinner Plain in 2007. Hamish took over in 2009, selling it in 2013. Rachel and Hamish together with Michael and Jeanette also own and run Yama Kitchen and Bar in Hotham Central since 2015.
Cooking is done on the custom made solid fuel oven and grill
A traditional gin with Australian botanicals
Look out for REMEDY which will be available nationally on 22 January, or if you’re in Bright be sure to drop in for a cocktail and some great food.
Reed and Co Distillery, now open for business
