After helping shape one of Australia’s most respected regional restaurants, former Muse Head Chef Mitchell Beswick brings his produce-led approach to Terrigal.
Meribella has entered a new culinary chapter with the appointment of former Muse Head Chef Mitchell Beswick as Culinary Director, bringing a renewed focus on seasonality, Australian produce and coastal dining to Terrigal’s panoramic dining destination.
Set on the first floor of Crowne Plaza Terrigal Pacific, overlooking the sweeping Central Coast shoreline, Meribella has steadily become one of the region’s most considered dining destinations. Beswick’s appointment builds on that reputation, bringing a distinctly personal approach shaped by decades spent working alongside some of Australia’s most respected chefs, producers and hospitality teams.
Meribella represents the opportunity for Beswick to realise a long-held vision, building a menu around the relationships he has forged with growers, fishermen and producers across the Central Coast, Hunter Valley, Greater NSW and beyond.
With 28 years in the kitchen, Beswick’s career has taken him through some of Australia’s most highly regarded restaurants, including Longrain, Qualia, Poole’s Rock and Muse.
Most recently, he served as Head Chef at Muse in the Hunter Valley, one of Australia’s most acclaimed regional restaurants and the recipient of multiple Sydney Morning Herald Good Food hats. Mitchell brings to Meribella both the technical expertise of a chef shaped by high expectation kitchens and the warmth of a cook who still takes joy in changing someone’s mind about an ingredient.
Mitchell Beswick said, “When I first walked into Meribella and looked out at that coastline, it felt like the right moment and the right room for this next chapter of my career. There’s a strong team and loyal guests who care deeply about the restaurant. I’m genuinely excited for people to come and experience what we’re creating together.”
The new menu at Meribella is shaped by the region and the seasons, with dishes changing not to a date on the calendar but to the rhythms of the growers, fishers and producers Beswick works alongside.
For Beswick, the menu is not the vision of a single chef. His approach to the kitchen is collaborative, with chefs encouraged to contribute ideas, work closely with producers and take ownership of dishes as the menu continues to evolve.
Beswick’s cooking is grounded in seasonality, restraint and a deep respect for exceptional produce. The menu draws on techniques that best support the ingredient, with minimal intervention, and to showcase the ingredient at its best, where they add depth and clarity.
Leaf-to-root,head-to-fin or nose-to-tail and low-waste thinking are central to the approach, with smoking, drying, fermenting and pickling used to preserve and build flavour. The guiding principle remains the produce itself, and the people who grow, catch and raise it.
The menu draws on relationships with producers including Dylan Abdoo from Newcastle Greens, whose heirloom vegetables, purple daikon and native sunrose feature throughout the menu; Musset Holdings, whose Southern Highlands mushrooms bring depth and earthiness to the plate; Newcastle’s Baked Uprising Bakery; and local Nelson Bay fisherman Nathan Crocker, whose catches of bonito, kingfish and snapper move directly from ocean to kitchen.
Signature dishes include Terrigal bonito with pickled onion, smoked bonito cream, wild rice and native sunrose, a dish that begins with Nathan Crocker’s local catch and is rounded out with Dylan Abdoo’s garden; Hawkesbury Loligo calamari with fennel, koshihikari rice and dashi risotto, drawing on the brief season when the sweeter species of calamari runs through the river mouth; and charred Paroo kangaroo tartare with purple daikon, hung yoghurt and Jerusalem artichoke chips.
Working alongside Beswick is a broader Meribella team including Head Chef Mitchell Wheeler and Sommelier Lisa Sanders, whose 20 year career spans some of Sydney’s most respected restaurants, including Tetsuya’s, Quay, Marque and Woodcut, as well as time in the Hunter Valley at Margan Vineyard and Hart & Hunter. Sanders’ wine program balances Australian and international selections, with a strong focus on New South Wales and Hunter Valley producers.
"One of the things that attracted me to Meribella was the opportunity to help develop the next generation of chefs. Great restaurants are built by teams, and creating an environment where people can learn, contribute and grow is just as important to me as what's on the plate”, said Beswick.
While the menu continues to evolve, Meribella remains grounded in the qualities that have earned it a loyal following: warm hospitality, a spectacular coastal setting and a dining experience designed to be both elevated and approachable.
As Terrigal and the Central Coast continue to mature as dining destinations, Meribella’s next chapter reflects the people and produce that shape the region, bringing together thoughtful food, genuine hospitality and one of the most spectacular dining outlooks on the NSW coast.
