The team behind Spare at Wagga’s Prince of Wales Hotel that’s getting five out of five rave reviews from diners. From left, floor manager Anju Karki, sous chef Bhuwan Karki, head chef Alex Harvey and chef Saroj Pandey. Photo: Marguerite McKinnon.
It was known as Wagga’s best restaurant for 30 years, and now the heir to the formerly named Barter’s at The Prince of Wales hotel, Spare, is carrying on the tradition as a must-not-miss dining experience in Wagga.
When the restaurant was bought by local chef Jamie Shepley in 2024, he was stuck trying to find a name worthy of the historic Prince of Wales Hotel without being antiquated and conventional.
Enter Wagga brand and marketing guru Julia Roberts, who played with the Prince of Wales name and leaned in on the controversy of Prince Harry who, in 2023, had released his tell-all book Spare in reference to the royal practice of having “an heir, and a spare” to protect the bloodline, with Harry simply being “The Spare”.
“Originally we were going to call the restaurant The Windsor and I sat with it for months I reckon, and I was thinking, ugh, it’s such a boring name, and when Julia suggested Spare I put the feelers out to a few people, and everyone was like, “That’s a cool name”, so we decided to run with it,” owner Jamie Shepley said.
Spare head chef Alex Harvey (front) is taking over the running of the restaurant while owner Jamie Shepley (back) focuses on other dining ventures in Wagga.
“It’s 50-50, with half the people knowing the reference, and the other 50 per cent going, ‘Ah-ha!’, and liking it, once we tell them why it’s called Spare,” Mr Shepley said.
“It’s supposed to be fun, it’s supposed to be playful and we want a nice elegant space that’s intimate and beautiful without being pretentious.”
The restaurant, on the corner of Kincaid and Fitzmaurice streets has a local pedigree for excellence. Located in what was originally the bar of the original 1865 building, a feature of Spare is the spiral staircase down to the original cellar that was discovered during renovations, and for eagle-eye diners, the windows still have the faint outline of Barter’s, which once ruled Wagga’s dining scene in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, back when flower ladies would visit restaurants selling single-stem roses table to table, and when a fancy night out at Barter’s had scallops at $3 each, a fillet mignon $5, a bottle of Dom Perignon was $23.50, and a bottomless cup of coffee would set you back 50 cents, according to Barter’s 1977 menu.
Spare has won over diners with elegant dishes. Photo: Spare Restaurant.
Fast forward to 2026 and that tradition for excellence and memorable dining continues thanks to a dynamic core team lead by head chef Alex Harvey, sous chef Bhuwan Karki, his wife Anju Karki who is the head waitress and floor manager, and chef Saroj Pandey.
“What we are trying to achieve for people coming out to dinner is good food done right,” head chef Alex Harvey said.
“We just want people to relax and enjoy. The menu is seasonal but a signature dish that people keep asking about is the beef Wellington, so we have it as a feature on a menu every year, and it seems that the mushroom lady (Erin Patterson) has reminded people about beef Wellington, which is a very British dish, and they really want it,” Alex said.
“We want to support as much local growers and meat suppliers as possible,” he said.
Diners are raving about the food and the quality experience, with a recent Good Review ranking Spare five out of five each for food, service and atmosphere.
“From the attentive service and complimentary starters to the ambience and feel of the building – everything was great. And let’s not forget the food! We don’t generally do ‘fancy’ food but the food at Spare was incredible,” wrote diner Ely Glen two months ago.
As well as being the head chef, Alex is taking over the reins of Spare as Jamie Shepley focuses on his next venture with the soon-to-be-built Mr Lawrence restaurant, Madamelle.
Spare Restaurant is located in The Prince of Wales Hotel at 143 Fitzmaurice Street Wagga and is open Monday to Saturday for dinner from 6 pm. Contact them on (02) 6921 1922. Keep up with them via their website, Facebook page and Instagram.
