Over in the lakeside suburb of Belmont sits a brand-new foodie focussed venue making the most of those iconic Lake Macquarie views; welcome to TINTA Belmont.

Brought to you by Ben Stehr and Adam Marshall, TINTA Belmont is a much-welcomed venue for Lake Macquarie’s food and drink scene.

Opening in late July, TINTA has barely had a second to breathe with people flocking to the new venue Wednesday through to Sunday to experience their unique take on breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

“It’s been a hell of a month. I think we had about 500 bookings over our first weekend; there was a lot of spinning head both front of house and back of house,” Ben said.

Sitting amongst a freshly refurbed space where the old French Bistro of Squid’s Ink was for years, TINTA has been busily coming together over the past four years and the community has rallied around this iconic dining sure to stay as a big part of the local foodie scene.   

“There’s a rich history here that people tend to hold onto. It used to be a big wedding and event space here, and since we’ve opened, we’ve had over a dozen people come through the doors saying they were married here years ago.”

Walking into the freshly renovated space, you’re welcomed into their bar area which overlooks the lake and invites you through to the elevated and refined indoor dining space which extends out onto the newly formed deck or step outside into the more relaxed, coastal outside beer garden.

Now, for the foodie-minded people, what exactly can you expect on the menu? Offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the menu changes as the day goes on with breakfast focussing on your classic favourites with easy grab n’ go styled dishes.

The team is currently running a reduced breakfast menu, only available outside on the landing and lower deck with hopes to launch their full breakfast service come summer.

“Our breakfast menu is just nice and simplified. I think the opportunity for us with breakfast is that grab n’ go and go sit on the jetty. It’s your classic brekkie dishes and easy-to-takeaway meals. I want to see this lawn absolutely filled with people of a summer weekend.”

Moving into the lunch and dinner menu, you can expect flavours that align perfectly with the location of the venue itself; think contemporary coastal with plenty of fresh seafood heavily featuring quality local produce.

“We want to have a little bit of something for everyone, but we also want to be known for something. I think people are really liking our regional focussed menu.”

With Head Chef James Orlowski taking the reins in the kitchen, his passion for sustainably caught seafood and locally sourced produce shines through with each and every dish. Working alongside local producers such as Binnie Beef, Shane’s Seafood, Pukara Estate, and many others; you can relax knowing each dish is filled with local love and quality.

The name TINTA is a nod to the venue’s past, with TINTA in Portuguese translating to Ink, a connection that the TINTA team has continued through not only their name but with some of their menu items.

“On our menu, we do have the Squid’s Ink Linguine, and the Steak Frites because this use to be a French bistro; there are certainly a few nods to the property’s past.”

The venue may have only been open a month thus far, but we have a good feeling that TINTA is here for not only a good time, but a long time too, no doubt implementing themselves as a dining institution for Lake Macquarie residents.

The team has big plans for the venue over the coming years, much of which is being kept a little under wraps for the time being but trust us when we say you’ll absolutely be wanting to watch this space!