Caves House is Getting a Million Dollar Kitchen!

Our huge Edwardian kitchen is receiving a total makeover. 

 

The kitchen will reopen for this October’s school holidays and ‘L’Affaire de Printemps’, Jenolan’s Spring celebration of food, wine and music – Oct 30 to Nov 6, 2010. 

 

So although Chisolm's Restaurant is temporarily closed, our chefs are creating delicious dinners in our cafe kitchen, to be served in our 'Kanangra-Boyd Gallery'.  There will be no inconvenience to guests.  Also, our atmospheric bar (next to Chisolm's) will still be open for meals and drinks.

 

Caves House was designed in 1897 by Walter Liberty Vernon, in the Federation Arts & Crafts style, as a retreat for the wealthy. Vernon’s design included an enormous grand dining room, now the magnificent Chisolm’s Restaurant.

 

Chisolm’s is serviced by an immense kitchen – the size of a modest house. In 1926, no expense was spared, and it even included its own butchery. However, needs have changed, and Chisolm’s kitchen is now receiving a total renovation, bringing it into line with modern food service standards. Tradesmen are working literally day and night, to effect the transformation on time without inconveniencing hotel guests.

 

Caves House Food & Beverage Manager, James Brady, said, “When the renovations are complete, our kitchen will rank with those of Australia’s best restaurants. TV cooking shows and celebrity chefs have raised the benchmark, and our chefs need the tools to compete in a discerning international market.”

 

The kitchen makeover should finish in time for Jenolan’s L’Affaire de Printemps, where visitors can “indulge their passions in a ‘Springtime Affair’: Music! Food! Wine!”. October 30 will feature ‘Hot Jazz in Cool Caves’ plus lavish ‘winemakers dinner’. Food and wine lovers can book the 4 course dinner, in the newly reopened Chisolm’s Restaurant, hosted by Belgravia Wines (from Australia’s coldest grape growing region - Orange). The dinner will be followed by a ‘supper club’ for jazz fans. Then, on November 6, Australia's biggest open cave, the Grand Arch, will be the spectacular venue for a sensational ABBA’s BACK concert. ABBA fans can book at Jenolan or via Ticketmaster.

 

Jenolan’s first cave wine cellar has been established. Guests can purchase excellent wine from the cellar or store wine in our cellar for their next visit.

 

Chisolm's Restaurant is named after Miss Chisolm who worked in Caves House for many years, finally leaving in 1965. Miss Chisholm is now thought to be one of Jenolan's ghosts.

In days gone by, staff would set the tables for breakfast at the end of the evening and then lock the room, stretching a chain through the door handles to prevent entry during the night. On a number of occasions, upon opening the dining room the next morning, staff have found the table in the far right corner to be rearranged, presumably by Miss Chisolm.

Miss Chisolm has also been known to draw drapes that were left open.

Another time, some staff were standing outside the dining room long after all the guests had left. The doors to the dining room are heavy and hard to open. Startled staff watched as the doors strained against the chain, whilst trying to open.

(These and more of Jenolan's ghost stories have been documented by Rob Whyte, one of Jenolan's cave guide. For more of his ghostly tales, click here.

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