A Newcastle family has been left devastated and out of pocket by the theft of their food trailer from a Hunter Valley winery last week.
Not only is the trailer missing, so are the utensils, food supplies, cooking equipment and tools it contained.
Chef Lucas Perry operates Native, one of six chef-led food trailers that "pop up" at wineries weekly as part of the Entwine Hunter Valley Food Trail.
The Native food trailer was parked at Stomp! Wines on Wilderness Road, Lovedale, last week when it was thought to have been stolen.
"Last Thursday my dad went up to Stomp! to start work, and when he got there the trailer was missing and there were fresh skid marks on the grass," Mr Perry's daughter, Georgia, told the Newcastle Herald.
"He called Joe [Wojarski, co-owner of Entwine Hunter Valley] and asked him if he had the trailer. They put two and two together and realised it had been stolen, and went searching for hours around the region."
Tatiana Wojarski, who owns Entwine Hunter Valley with her husband Joe, said the Native food trailer was seen on Saturday at about 4.15pm on the Hunter Expressway, travelling towards Lochinvar near the Kurri Kurri exit.
Reports say it was being towed by a four-wheel-drive that was "travelling very fast, with a lot of white smoke coming from behind it".
"The trailer was originally all white and has a unique shape. Even if someone takes the sign off, and takes the wrap away, it will be very obvious if they use it for something because it's not often you see those trailers around here," Ms Wojarski said.
"We own the trailer and rent it out to the Perry family. They've stocked it with all the equipment they need out of their own pocket."
The theft has prompted the Wojarskis to bring forward a business decision they had planned for 2027. Instead of operating at different wineries on the Entwine Hunter Valley Food Trail, all of the chef-led food vans will now use Calais Estate as their permanent hub.
"We have a lot of people asking us if we can open the food trailers during the day, mostly families, rather than at night, and we were going to look at this after summer," Ms Wojarski said.
"We're now starting our new chapter a little earlier than we planned."
Lucas Perry doesn't serve your typical food-truck grub at Native. His menu offers dishes such as creamy crocodile chowder cob with torched lemon aspen feta and herbed bush butter; kangaroo skewers served with shiraz, native thyme, wattle-buttered hasselback potatoes and grilled asparagus; and warm chocolate bread and butter pudding with Davidson plum nougat cream and custard.
That's the idea behind Entwine Hunter Valley, which launched in February. Tatiana and Joe wanted to create memorable, high-quality food experiences in winery settings with a collection of curated food trailers and a bar trailer, "bringing together elevated street food, wine, music, and community in one place".
The Entwine Food Trail may have ended, however, Entwine Hunter Valley can now be found at its new home, Calais Estate on Palmers Lane in Pokolbin. The new opening hours are Thursday, 10.30am to 3pm; Friday and Saturday, 10.30am to 3pm and 5.30pm to 9.30pm; and Sunday, 10.30am to 3pm.
Mr Perry will be there, operating out of Entwine's dessert trailer.
"Like many small family businesses, we have poured our hearts, time, and savings into Native. This isn't just a food truck - it's how we support our family and share our passion with others," Georgia said.
"Dad's been a chef his whole life and has worked in restaurants around Newcastle. He started Native in partnership with my sister.
"He put his all into this. I feel so bad for the poor bugger."
If you've seen the missing food trailer, contact police or Entwine Hunter Valley.
A Go Fund Me has been set up by Georgia for Mr Perry.
