16 | Mid-Western Living | SUMMER 2025 AT COOYAL, TASTE IS PART OF THE JOURNEY There’s a particular kind of quiet you hear when you drive out toward Cooyal. The road stretches, the horizon opens, and the bushland begins to breathe. Just twenty minutes from Mudgee, Cooyal Hotel sits among rolling paddocks and wide skies - a place that feels a little off the beaten track in the best possible way. It’s where locals bring their friends to show them “the real heart of the region,” and where travellers discover the kind of country hospitality that’s becoming harder to find. That spirit hasn’t gone unnoticed. Cooyal Hotel was recently a finalist in the Australian Hotels Association NSW Awards for Best Bush Pub - recognition that reflects genuine community, consistency, and heart. At the centre of it all is the kitchen - and in that kitchen is Head Chef Adair Stewart, a born-andraised Mudgee local whose quiet confidence and commitment to flavour are reshaping what people expect from a bush pub. But Adair’s story at Cooyal didn’t begin with a chef’s jacket. Ten years ago, she started behind the bar and helping in the kitchen, learning the rhythms of the venue from the ground up. She worked service after service, weekend after weekend, getting to know the regulars, the menu, and the spirit of the place long before she ever took charge of what came out of the pans. In 2021, something shifted. The hotel offered her the chance to formally train, and Adair seized it. She began her apprenticeship under renowned chef Toby Anderson, a name well known in the industry for his craft, creativity, and deep respect for ingredients. Under Toby’s guidance - and with Cooyal’s strong sense of community - Adair’s skills developed rapidly. Today, Toby lives out at Frog Rock, but his influence remains woven through the kitchen’s respect for balance and flavour. Now, the kitchen is firmly hers. “We’re a bush pub with heart. People come to slow down, connect and feel something.” “I’ve always believed that good food enhances the experience,” she says. “People come to Cooyal to slow down, connect, and enjoy where they are. The food should be part of that.” That philosophy flows through the new menu, launched in September - already turning heads across the region. The classics remain generous and familiar, but there’s also creativity -dishes that elevate, without losing the soul of the place.
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