Hot oven, cool nights at Ates in Blackheath

The hardest working member of the kitchen team at Ates is the sturdy W. J. Amos wood-fuelled oven.

Installed in Blackheath in the 1870s, soon after the opening of the railway line up the mountains, it's the heart and hearth of the restaurant.

By sending warmth and the scent of ironbark out into the ochre and terracotta-toned dining room. it sets the tone, the mood and the menu.

Before Ates, the Amos was the engine-room of Vesta, Fumo, and, most famously, of Vulcan's, run by chef Phillip Searle and Barry Ross from 1994 to 2014. The stories that oven could tell.

Now in the hands of chef and co-owner Will Cowan-Lunn, it's all aglow at being the centre of attention once again. Peek in to the oven at various times, and there will be great wedges of pumpkin, whole ducks, trays of carrots, and high-rise, fluffy focaccia.

After cheffing at Rockpool Bar and Grill and Tetsuya's, Cowan-Lunn has been in the mountains since 2014, developing notable connections with local producers such as Malfroy's Gold wild honey, Farm It Forward in Hazelbrook and Epicurean Harvest in Hartley.

He's learnt the hot spots and the cool spots of the oven, and bakes the breads closest to the coals, where it's around 200C. Anything else is done over charcoal on the hibachi, with only the salads spared.

Cowan-Lunn and business partner Terry Tan opened Zoe's next door in April; a fun, casual spot for Mexican food, cocktails and live music that has livened up Blackheath after dark considerably. They also, very sensibly, created a fully enclosed (and heated) outdoor dining space at Ates last year, to up their seat count.

With Hounslow wine bar in the arcade and the buzzy Blaq at the Hotel Kyah just out of town, I think it would be fair to say, without being mean, that there is now life after dark in Blackheath.

Apart from the obvious heat of the oven, there's warmth in the room, despite the poured concrete floor and bare walls. Tables are fashioned from local timber, service under manager Rhiannan Arnaiz is brisk and friendly, and the kitchen keeps up the pace, aware of the need to turn over tables on a Friday night.

Starting with bread is non-negotiable, and while the crusty wedges of focaccia are huge ($3 each), they're also light and puffy. When you start the day with dense sourdough from Katoomba's Hominy Bakery, you probably don't need to bookend it with more sourdough.

There's a Middle Eastern undercurrent running through the menu (Ates is the Turkish/Ottoman word for fire) so it's no surprise when a chunky dish of gnarly roasted beetroot ($14) is teamed with green olives and a puddle of garlic tahini. Focaccia, get in there and do your thing.

A fat wedge of roasted pumpkin ($12) is as sweet as American pumpkin pie, paired with garlic yoghurt and a vibrant green coriander oil.

A finger of designer toast is lightly stuffed with prawn and topped with cauliflower cream and avruga caviar in a cute riff on prawn toast ($16).

Even good old gnocchi Parisienne ($28) makes a reappearance; all soft pellets of gnocchi in a truffle-flecked cream under a disc of crisp parmigiano.

Two of us share a half roast duck ($55) from the oven; jointed and crisp-skinned, it's sent out in a pond of burnt butter with fresh mandarins.

A little sauternes custard ($14) is like a cheery wave from the Phillip Searle days, topped, or should that be bottomed, with caramel.

It's the sort of food – wood-fired, local, serious but approachable – that you feel like after a day of coffee, scones, bushwalks and beers in the mountains.

The commitment to small local producers extends to the Ates drinks list, too, showcasing Mountain Culture Beer Co, Frankly This Wine Was Made by Bob, and Darragh Wines from the Megalong Valley.

For a restaurant that runs on the glowing coals of a 150-year-old oven, that's actually very cool.

The low-down

Vibe Mountain dining straight from the wood-fired oven

Drinks Good cocktails and beers and a relatable wine list with a focus on local

Go-to dish Wood-roasted half duck, burnt butter, mandarin, $55 to share

Terry Durack is chief restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald and senior reviewer for the Good Food Guide.