Mangia at Saddler’s
Authentic Italian casual dining in the wine garden at Saddler’s Creek Wines, Pokolbin
Looking for a Hunter Valley winery with food? Mangia at Saddler’s is the Italian kitchen at Saddler’s Creek Wines, a Hunter Valley winery where food sits at the heart of the visit. Authentic Italian dishes served alfresco in the Pokolbin wine garden. Lunch Saturday and Sunday, early dinner Friday. The point was never just the wine. It was the table.
📅 Friday 5.00pm to 8.00pm. Saturday and Sunday Noon to 3.00pm
📍 Wine Garden, Saddler’s Creek Wines, 15 Marrowbone Road, Pokolbin
🍷 Authentic Italian casual dining, every dish with a suggested Saddler’s pairing
Casual lunch in the Hunter Valley, the Italian way
Looking for a casual lunch in the Hunter Valley without the white tablecloths? Mangia at Saddler’s is authentic Italian casual dining. Handmade pasta, slow cooked ragu and fresh seafood, the kind of cooking that takes hours to make, with weekly specials that make the most of seasonal ingredients. It is what keeps locals coming back, week after week. Nothing here gets rushed, except maybe a second serve of focaccia.
This is eating the Laureti family way. Long lunches, shared plates, kids on the lawn and conversation that outlasts the food. The wine garden fills with locals and weekenders alike, glasses of Saddler’s Creek wine on every table.
Mangia! Mangia! Nonna Maria’s favourite call to the table for Sunday lunch. The name came from her. So did the spirit.
A winery with outdoor dining, live music and room for everyone
Mangia serves in the alfresco wine garden at Saddler’s Creek, with the vines in view and live music drifting through Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons. Pull up a chair in the spring sun, gather around the fire pit or settle in under the heaters with a blanket. And if the weather turns, move into the Barrel Room for a wine tasting, warm and dry while the rain does its thing. Child friendly and dog friendly, with vegetarian and gluten free options across the menu.
Every dish on the menu carries a suggested pairing from the Saddler’s Creek list, printed right beside it. Take the suggestion with a glass or a bottle for the table, or ask the cellar door team what they would pour with it.
The Spring Menu
Spring cooking the Italian way. Clams and bottarga, scallops with asparagus, zucchini flowers straight from the fryer and burrata with peas and broad beans. Lighter, greener and built for a long lunch. Below are Chef Chiero’s signature spring dishes, with specials and desserts changing weekly to make the most of the best ingredients coming through the kitchen door.
Heirloom Tomato Salad, $18. GF Grilled peach and goat cheese.
Rocket and Pear Salad, $16. GF Toasted walnuts and citrus dressing.
Seasoned Chips, $14. GF
Rosemary Focaccia, $14. EVOO and aged balsamic, Coppertree Farm salted butter.
Kids Meal, $20. Chicken fingers, chips, soft drink and ice cream.
Specials and desserts change weekly. Ask for the day’s list when you order.
GF gluten free. Wine pairings are suggestions from the Saddler’s Creek list, ordered separately. Photography by MJK Creative.
Friday nights in the Hunter Valley: dinner, sunsets and live music
Friday Sunsets is where the Hunter Valley weekend begins. The Mangia kitchen serves from 5.00pm to 8.00pm, live music plays from 5.00pm to 8.30pm and the wine garden does the rest. Come straight from work, bring the family or make it the first stop of your weekend away.
Single Suitcase Wine and Food Pairing, Wednesday to Saturday at 12pm
Mangia at Saddler’s cooks from the Airstream Kitchen in the wine garden. For the foodies, Chef Chiero offers something more. The Single Suitcase Wine and Food Pairing is a seated Italian wine and food pairing in the Barrel Room, Wednesday to Saturday at 12pm. Six Single Suitcase wines, the Italian varietals the Laureti family brought to Australian soil, each matched to a plate from Chef Chiero and guided glass by glass by the cellar door team.
The wines come in two brackets of three. The whites and the Sangiovese first: 2026 Pecorino, 2026 Fiano and 2026 Sangiovese, poured beside grilled calamari, a goat cheese and cucumber tartellette and a ragu and ricotta tortello. Then the reds: 2024 Nero d’Avola, Barbera and Montepulciano, with eggplant alla norma, pizza fritta with prosciutto di Parma and a home smoked buffalo chicken wing. Bookings are essential.
What’s on at Saddler’s Creek this weekend
Every weekend at Saddler’s Creek runs to the same happy rhythm. Friday Sunsets with live music and Mangia from 5.00pm. Saturday lunch in the wine garden with live music from Noon. Sunday lunch from Noon. Wine and food pairing luncheons Wednesday to Saturday at 12pm, and wine tastings daily at the cellar door.
Friday Sunsets
Kick the weekend off at Saddler’s with live music, Italian food from the Mangia kitchen, wine by the glass or bottle and local craft beer. Cosy up by the open fire pits or heaters, then Wine and Chill.
Wine and Chill
Food, wine and music. Relax in the wine garden with the Mangia at Saddler’s Italian menu and live music in the open air, made for families with children or pets in tow.
Private Events
Host an intimate wine and food experience in the Bluegrass Members Lounge. A lunch or dinner for you and up to 10 guests, matched with a curated selection of our very best wines.
Plan your visit to Mangia at Saddler’s, Pokolbin
Saddler’s Creek Wines is at 15 Marrowbone Road, Pokolbin, in the heart of Hunter Valley wine country, about two hours from Sydney and forty minutes from Newcastle Airport. Taxis and Ubers are available locally.
Walk-ins are welcome. Wine and Chill runs any day the cellar door is open, reserve a free spot to be sure of a table. The Mangia kitchen serves Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and on other days you can order a cheese and charcuterie board with your tasting experience. Bookings are essential for the wine and food pairing luncheons. Mangia is alfresco and weather dependent. We have blankets, heaters and a fire pit for the cooler afternoons, and if the weather closes in, wine tastings move into the Barrel Room. Kids and dogs are welcome. Sorry, no BYO alcohol.
For private functions, milestone birthdays or an intimate gathering in the Bluegrass Room, our team can curate a wine and food experience for you and up to 10 guests.
Meet Chef Chiero, the Italian chef behind Mangia
Mangia at Saddler’s is led by Chef Chiero, Italian born and classically trained. From the Airstream Kitchen beside the wine garden, Chef Chiero crafts authentic Italian dishes with seasonal, locally sourced Hunter Valley produce. Handmade pasta, rustic antipasto and seafood the way his nonna would approve of, each plate made to sit beside a Saddler’s Creek wine.
It is the Laureti family’s Italian heritage on a plate. Food crafted with heart and soul, made for sharing.
Mangia at Saddler’s FAQs
Where can I have a casual lunch in the Hunter Valley?
Mangia at Saddler’s serves casual Italian lunch in the wine garden at Saddler’s Creek Wines, Pokolbin, every Saturday and Sunday from Noon to 3.00pm. Expect fresh pasta, seafood and shared plates, each dish with a suggested Saddler’s Creek wine pairing, and live music on Saturdays from Noon.
Which Hunter Valley cellar doors do lunch?
Saddler’s Creek Wines in Pokolbin serves lunch at the cellar door Saturday and Sunday through Mangia at Saddler’s, its Italian kitchen in the wine garden. You can taste wines, stay for lunch and enjoy live music in one visit, with wine and food pairing luncheons Wednesday to Saturday at 12pm.
Where can I eat in the Hunter Valley with kids or dogs?
Mangia at Saddler’s in Pokolbin welcomes both. There is a kids meal of chicken fingers, chips, a soft drink and ice cream, lawns and picnic grounds for them to roam, and well behaved dogs are welcome in the alfresco wine garden while you finish your glass.
What’s on in the Hunter Valley on a Friday night?
Friday Sunsets at Saddler’s Creek Wines, Pokolbin. The Mangia kitchen serves authentic Italian from 5.00pm to 8.00pm and live music plays from 5.00pm to 8.30pm in the wine garden. It is a relaxed early dinner that eases you into the Hunter Valley weekend.
Do I need to book or can I walk in?
Walk-ins are welcome at Mangia at Saddler’s. To guarantee a table, reserve a free Wine and Chill spot, it runs any day the cellar door is open and you simply pay for what you eat and drink. Bookings are essential for the wine and food pairing luncheons in the Barrel Room.
Is Saddler’s Creek dog friendly?
Yes. Saddler’s Creek Wines is dog friendly and child friendly. The wine garden and picnic grounds are alfresco, so well behaved dogs on leads are welcome to join you for lunch or a Friday evening.
Where can I do a degustation lunch in the Hunter Valley?
Saddler’s Creek Wines in Pokolbin holds a wine and food pairing luncheon in the Barrel Room, Wednesday to Saturday at 12pm. It is a seated degustation where Chef Chiero’s dishes are matched course by course with Saddler’s wines, currently the Single Suitcase pairing of six small batch Italian varietals.
Does Mangia at Saddler’s have gluten free options?
Yes. The menu marks every gluten free dish, including the heirloom tomato salad, the rocket and pear salad and the seasoned chips. Tell the team what you need when you order and they will talk you through the rest of the menu.
How do I get to the Hunter Valley from Sydney?
Saddler’s Creek Wines is about a two hour drive north of Sydney, at 15 Marrowbone Road, Pokolbin, and forty minutes from Newcastle Airport. Taxis and Ubers operate locally if you would rather not drive between cellar doors.
Never miss what’s on at Saddler’s
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Last updated Wednesday 30th September 2026