Damien Monley to cook for Howards Lane cellar door

Damien and Justine Monley, former owners of Woollahra's Flat White Cafe and Madam Char Char in Surry Hills, traded Sydney for a vine change late last year snapping up Howards Lane Vineyard in Mittagong. They've had their hands dirty with shiraz and merlot, now their devoting time to their first love, food. Damien Monley, who started out as a chef in the kitchen at Moran's, has permission to serve "light refreshment" at Howards Lane's cellar door.

From this week, cellar-door quaffers can tuck into fennel and sumac baked salmon with salsa verde, spiced cauliflower fritters and haloumi, mint salsa and lemon. It certainly beats the standard cellar door nibbles. "People can come to our cellar door and buy the wine at cellar door prices and then have a graze on some tasty aperitivo, listening to some cool tunes while overlooking the vines," the chef says. We're sold.