Dishery After Dark. A Night with Escarpment.

Some dinners are just dinner. This is not one of them.

On Friday 14 August from 7pm, Dishery After Dark returns with A Night With Escarpment. Four courses. Four wines. One table built around the idea that when the kitchen and the vineyard are speaking the same language, things get very interesting very quickly.

This is an intimate evening pairing a menu from Executive Chef Steve Sepsy with wines from Escarpment Winery. It starts with Pinot Blanc on arrival, moves into Chardonnay with the entrée, finds its stride with the 2023 Martinborough Pinot Noir, and lets Kupe have the final word.

In other words, if you know the difference between a good Pinot and a great one, you’ll want a seat at this table.

SOME NIGHTS ARE WORTH PLANNING

Dishery After Dark is built for the people who like their dinners with a little more depth to them.

Not stiff. Not over-explained. Just a genuinely good night out built around thoughtful food, very good wine, and the kind of conversation that tends to stretch beyond the original plan. We’ll welcome guests from 7pm, with Steve and the Escarpment team talking through the wines, the dishes, and the thinking behind both.

It will be casual, intimate, and exactly the sort of dinner that makes leaving early feel like a bad decision.

THE VINEYARD: ESCAPRMENT

Escarpment has been making wine on the Martinborough Terrace since 1999, on the ancient alluvial gravels of Te Muna Road. Founded by Larry McKenna, still known in New Zealand wine circles as the Prince of Pinot, the winery has built its reputation on wines with precision, restraint, and a very strong sense of place.

Their top Pinot Noirs are named after the vineyards rather than the grape: Kupe, Kiwa, Te Rehua, Pahi. Each one is a distinct expression of a distinct site. Minimal intervention, no fining, no filtration. Just fruit, ground, and the kind of quiet confidence that tends to come from doing things properly for a long time.

These are wines with something to say. Exactly why they belong here.

THE WINEMAKER: TIM BOURNE

Tim  arrived at Escarpment after time in Marlborough, Central Otago, Waipara, Western Australia, and nearly seven years in the Barossa Valley. It’s the sort of path that reads less like a neat career ladder and more like someone steadily following better fruit and better opportunities to learn from it.

He was dux of the AWRI Advanced Wine Assessment Course in 2015, which is impressive, but more importantly, he makes wines that do the talking for him. On the night, Tim will be pouring alongside the courses and talking guests through what makes each wine what it is.

THE CHEF: STEVE SEPSY

If you’ve eaten at Dishery before, you’ll know Steve doesn’t cook food that sits quietly on the table.

His plates have the kind of detail that makes you lean in before you’ve even picked up your fork. Before Dishery, Steve worked in some of New Zealand’s most respected kitchens, including Aosta, Toast + Oak, and Ahi, cooking alongside Ben Bayly and building the sort of background that gives a chef both range and restraint.

For Dishery After Dark, the menu is being built around the wines, not the other way around. Four courses designed to meet each glass where it is, rather than competing for attention. The full menu will be revealed on the night.

WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE YOU BOOK

Friday 14 August 7pm until late $159 per seat

Four courses. Four wines. A conversation between kitchen and vineyard, and a very good reason to clear your evening.

To book, select 7pm Friday 14 August and your party size.

BOOK YOUR SEAT