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Restaurant Amara
With the creative re-invention of seasonal vegetables taking centre stage, Amara provides a unique, rewarding experience that reconnects guests with the very best of the land, and surprises with its sheer originality.
The intimate, personalised degustation takes diners on a journey of pure discovery, and delights with every course.
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Helpful information to ensure a memorable experience at Restaurant Amara
information
Set within the distinctive surroundings of Spicers Retreats, Restaurant Amara delivers a dining experience centred on seasonality, quality ingredients and a sense of connection to place. Each menu is created to evolve naturally throughout the year, allowing produce and flavour to lead the experience.
From intimate dinners to relaxed shared meals, Restaurant Amara offers guests the opportunity to enjoy elevated dining that feels personal, unhurried and quietly luxurious—an essential part of the Spicers Retreats experience.
At Amara, only the freshest of local organic and sustainable produce is sourced from within a one-hour drive radius. Known as the ‘chef’s harvest experience’, the best of the region is always at hand, thanks to strong personal relationships with local producers. Indigenous ingredients make a welcome appearance, and traditional cooking techniques of charcoal and fire are preferred.
Awards and accolades
2025 – Good Food Guide – One Hat
2024 – Good Food Guide – One Hat
2024 – Australian Good Food Guide Chefs Hat – 14 points
2023 – Good Food Guide – One Hat
2023 – Australian Good Food Guide Chefs Hat – 14 points
2022 – Australian Good Food Guide – Reader’s Choice – Modern Australian
opening times
Lunch: 7 days | 12.30pm to 2pm (bookings essential)
Dinner: 7 days | 6pm to 8.30pm (bookings essential)
Direction
Please note that there will be a 10% surcharge on food and beverages on Sundays, and a 15% surcharge on public holidays.
Getting here
Restaurant Amara is located at Spicers Sangoma Retreat , 70 Grandview Lane, Bowen Mountain, NSW
Parking
Onsite parking is available.
HEAD CHEF WILL HOUIA
Head Chef Will Houia’s food philosophy embodies a simple, ultimately natural approach to cooking, preferring traditional cooking techniques with charcoal and fire over gas and electricity, and the use of controlled dehydration to prepare fruit and veggies. He uses seasonal humble ingredients and makes it shine, as well as indigenous ingredients to add subtle layers of flavour.
As the Zulu word for ‘grace,’ Amara puts diners at the centre of an ecosystem of local producers and sustainable on-site practices, which together serve up a dining experience in harmony with nature and the alluring bushland surrounds.
“We’ve built incredible relationships with our local suppliers,” says Houia, “we work together to deliver the finest produce the region can provide and bring out its best in the kitchen.”
The Amara team create five-course degustation menus for ultimate long lunch and seven-courses for dinner, all based on the freshest organic and seasonal meat, cheese and hero produce available within 100km (or one-hour drive) of Sangoma, among the historic and highly fertile Hawkesbury region.
Sample Lunch Menu
View (pdf 1.8 MB)
Sample Dinner Menu
View (pdf 1.8 MB)
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