Camilla Thompson
Good Plate Nutrition
A Conversation With Camilla
When you live and work in the Orange wine region, you quickly learn who genuinely understands this place — its seasons, its produce, its rhythm. Camilla is one of those people. She’s built a life here that reflects everything Orange does well: community, food, wine and a deep appreciation for the landscape that shapes it all. Here, she shares her Orange story in her own words.
What brought you here and what made you stay?
I came to Orange with my now husband in 2011 for the Orange Picnic Races — we had the best weekend and felt this was the place for us. We were living in Bondi at the time but wanted a tree change (because frankly we couldn’t afford to buy anywhere nice there!) and Orange just felt like home. It had everything we needed — great food, coffee and a thriving wine industry which I was working in at the time. We moved here in 2012 and fell in love with the community very quickly. We’ve never looked back.
How does Orange shape your day‑to‑day life, your work, your passions?
Being a nutritionist with a strong passion for quality produce, cooking and entertaining, I love that Orange has four distinct seasons and the insanely beautiful produce that comes with them.
How and what I cook is completely guided by the seasons — so being surrounded by such a dynamic culinary landscape constantly keeps me inspired and thriving with all the colour and variety.
Choose a ChaLou Wine, food to pair it with and a song to play in the background.
This is a hard one. Let’s go with a Dreaded Friend Grenache. I’d pair it with a perfectly roasted pasture‑raised chicken from Grassland Poultry, served with braised cavolo nero with white beans, fennel, loads of garlic and lemon, and roasted rosemary and garlic potatoes.
I can’t pinpoint a single song — but a Spotify playlist with Frank Ocean, Olivia Dean and Leon Bridges seems to be on high rotation in my kitchen at the moment.
How do you spend a typical day here?
My day starts with some sort of low‑impact movement — a walk with a girlfriend, a strength class or pilates. Then I head to Good Eddy to get a coffee for myself and Thomo before facing the madness of getting everyone ready for school.
We always have music playing in the house, and the kids request songs from all genres — R&B is probably the most popular. Our most recent favourite tune is Oh Happy Day from Sister Act — our neighbours must think we’ve got a gospel church happening inside
Breakfast is important to me, so I’ll have something like an omelette or my homemade muesli with fresh berries and natural yoghurt. After school drop‑off I sometimes get a moment to pause and breathe before heading to work at Hive Orange to meet clients or dive into project work.
Any local legends, collaborators or neighbours who inspire you?
We are so lucky in Orange to have the most supportive, generous business community — so many people collaborate and lift each other up because when we work together, everyone benefits. And it’s fun.
I love the local hospo, wine and wellness community — there are genuinely too many small businesses doing amazing things to list. But if I had to choose one person or business really pushing boundaries and raising the profile of the region, it would be Hugh Piper and the team at Hey Rosey. They consistently showcase the best of our regional produce and producers. They deserve to be celebrated, and I’m one of their biggest hype girls.
If you haven’t been — go. If you have — you know exactly what I mean.
A memory that sums up life here.
Easter in Orange is hard to beat. Autumn has fully arrived, the leaves are turning every shade imaginable.
For me, it’s a long weekend spent at home cooking something delicious with beautiful local produce, then sitting around the fire pit with a glass of red, surrounded by my family and the people I love most.
A full belly, a crisp evening and a good glass of red — stick a fork in me, I’m done.