The Table is a guesthouse in the old fashioned
sense of the word, host Malcolm Martin ensures that you feel very much like a
guest in his home. And it helps that his home is a picturesque
Tuscan/Provence-inspired villa surrounded by lavender, olive trees and a garden
of fresh herbs. Martin went to great lengths in building and furnishing his
dream home, enlisting the help of a local blacksmith to make the wrought iron
balustrades and light fittings and searching out light switches, and even
dimmer switches, that look like old black bakelite, so that rooms have modern
conveniences without compromising the look of traditional fixtures. The heavy
wooden queen-size beds (made up in crisp white linen) and the large communal
dining table, which gives the guesthouse its name, were custom made for The
Table.
Malcolm offers a table d’ôte menu, mainly for his guests, but is also happy
to feed other travellers with prior notice. There is obvious care and pride in
his cooking, which is inspired by traditional European cuisine. He sources
local and organic produce where he can and bakes his own delicious bread from
biodynamic grain. A typical meal might start with pre-dinner drinks and duck
liver pâté on caraway toasts in the garden or front room, depending on the
season, before guests move to the long wooden table in the dining room, or to
one of the smaller glass and wrought-iron tables in the breakfast room, for an
entrée of beetroot soup followed by a seriously good paella (full of chicken,
prawns and chorizo and rich with smoky paprika). The Table isn’t licensed,
which suits most guests just fine as they’re keen to try the samples collected
from a busy day’s wine tasting in the nearby vineyards of the Hunter Valley.
And after a good night’s sleep Malcolm’s breakfasts are a thing to look forward
to with freshly baked bread, homemade preserves, eggs from the local chickens
and an array of other delights.
The Table Guesthouse
3 Water Street
Greta NSW 2334
+61 2 4938 7799 www.thetable.com.au