Great to see Adam Harvey visit the Kitty Crawford Estate (circa 1867) at the Ironbark Vineyard in the beautiful Dungowan Valley in country NSW Australia.

The Magnificent White Buffalo “ABU” is the new addition to the farm where she roams the picturesque pastures with all her mates the Majestic Black Riverine Buffalo, Abu is actually very rare, she has blue eyes and is very friendly and is hand fed near the delightful old Heritage 1867 wine tasting room.   

It’s great to be able to announce the new Kitty Crawford Classic Heritage Fortified Reserve Tawny. This flavourful yet soft and elegant liquor tawny has been made using traditional methods of aged mature oak Barriques to develop a rich bouquet, there is a delightful depth of flavour on the palate where the sweetness is perfectly balanced by aged brandy spirit giving it a lively roundness and symphony on the tongue reminiscent of a bygone era of fortified liqueur shiraz.

The Kitty Crawford Estate is in relatively high country with an altitude of approximately 1320 feet, situated in the delightful four seasoned climate of the New England region. The distinctiveness of the vineyard is very old free ranging red basalt soils that are perfectly situated to viticulture. The mesmerizing old timber cottage featured on the label was built on the property in 1867. We have three vineyards in the region and believe in the vision of shared talent, produce and passion wherever possible.

Also adding to the new range which is about to be released is the new Foxy Little Lime Maiden Riesling. This crisp as morning dew wine shows fresh aromas of lemon zest, citrus blossoms and green herbaceous characters. The palate delivers flavours of green apple, lime sherbet and a youthful light mineral background. We at sSs are proud to be able to bring these two new wines to the table as we work tirelessly to bring great country produce from the farm to our valued guests. Not only are these wines now available in sSs restaurants but we welcome all to come along for tasting on Sundays from 12 noon till 4pm.It has become a real outing where you can kick back try some great wines but have some homely local Fare. Your hosts Graham & Marlene are keen to talk food and wine and revel in knowledgeable accounts of produce from the ground up. It’s all about passion.

How fantastic that Port Macquarie sSs has just been advised that they are finalists in the prestigious Port Macquarie Hastings Council Customer Care Service Excellence Awards.  How great to see Ross, Jo, Kieran, Mel, Meaghan and the Team get rewarded for treating the “guest as gold”  Meaghan has co-ordinated this program for the Port store.

In a nut shell the five principles are.

Great to hear sSs is a true family restaurant with 3 members of the same family working in sSs Toowoomba and a big congratulations to Josh Hardwick who is getting married. A big congratulations to Jodie Dunn for the birth of baby boy Caleb.

How great, as Chloe and Luke from Tamworth welcomed new baby boy Brodie.

Congratulations to Sahtina form Port Macquarie on the birth of her baby boy Blade.

Fantastic to hear Ben and Amanda have not only taken on sSs in Dubbo and are the new franchisee’s Dubbo, but are now happily settled in after the big wedding.

sSs Brisbane has a new Manager, Cathy who trained in Tamworth many years ago and has worked as a manager in a retail  chain for some time before returning to the sSs Team. “Welcome back” Matt ,Tom & Brisbane team are working really well with Cathy to ensure the sSs standard is upheld.

Another big welcome back to Craig Givney, (Donny as many may remember him) finished his apprenticeship at sSs Tamworth and has just returned to the sSs kitchen. How great it is when we have great people return, the first thing that springs to mind is just how well trained and familiar they are with the systems and how easy that fit back in, “How exciting” and what the future holds. Ben Craggs is now in training to have his own sSs. For us we find this amazing as so many of our great team of franchisee’s have come from within the organisation. This is always such a proud moment to see the growth of great sSs team members. He knows it’s not going to be always easy in business but is up to the challenge. We also welcome Greg McLeod who has worked in Restaurants and Franchised Steakhouses for many years to sSs head office.

Congratulations to Cheryl Pavey at sSs Coffs Harbour,  Cheryl won the 4TH year apprentice cook off for the Coffs Harbour region and now goes on to compete against other regions in the state. Good on you Cheryl you have done us proud!

To all our wonderful guests we have just started our frequent diners card which we call “The sSs Great Mates Card” This is because we are a Fully owned Australian family company and we want to keep our wonderful guests informed and up to date with all things sSs. We have a fantastic casual feel in our steakhouses where you can really feel comfortable, a true mate at your local store. There will also be some great benefits thrown in from time to time, plus local store promotions and invites to local sSs events. Sign up this month for only $20 and receive a great sSs cap and a choice of a Fantastic sSs polo Shirt or sSs T-shirt totally valued at approximately $45. Some stock is limited so hop in while it lasts and become an sSs VIP. Any time we have something special happening we will keep you up to date via email. Sign up tonight at the front counter.

For the month of June 2008 every Great mate card holder will receive a free entrée rib with their main meal purchase. 

For July 2008 present your Great Mate card, Monday to Thursday and receive an extra 10% off your entire bill for the night.

Both of these offers will be on top of your normal award points for that visit.

As an extra bonus to sSs Great Mate card holders, take the trip to kitty Crawford Estate at Ironbark Creek vineyard in the recently launched “ New England Wine” district and receive a free plate of home made scones jam and cream, plus 10% off their direct retail wine purchase from the Vineyard cellar door.

Conditions apply to all offers.

Thank you very much to our valued customers from
the team of sSs BBQ Barns.  

Adam Harvey visits the Kitty Crawford Estate.

The magnificent White Buffalo "ABU".

Here we have two young Buffalo casually wandering past the old heritage wine tasting room.

A sketch of the delightful old tasting room.

The chefs at the Toowoomba sSs, with the Monster Truck. I’m sure they feel more at home serving the Monster sSs Beef Shank.

The Biggest losers are the biggest winners when they tackle a great time at sSs with a great fund raising day for the Friends of Nioka.

The Cessnock Samaritans started up a workshop for the community of unemployed youth and they have created veggie gardens for growing local produce organically. sSs Cessnock has given support for the past 12 months. “How fantastic” !

A healthy tasty new addition to the new menu at sSs, “Flame Grilled Barbequed Squid.”

“The sSs Mocha Bombe” awesome Tiramisu flavours made into a special home style Celebration Ice cream cake.