There’s a frog on our table. No, our uninvited visitor isn’t on the menu, but plenty of other items from this rural restaurant’s multi-acre garden are: kipfler potatoes (roasted), heirloom tomatoes (fried), just-picked green leaves (lightly dressed with horseradish). Using local produce isn’t novel, but Alex Delly’s way with flavours and textures is deft. Green-lip abalone topped with sea urchin, kombu butter and curls of crackling is rewardingly complex, as is a dessert of blueberries picked in Milton and served alongside miso meringue and cucumber ice-cream. Well-priced wine mostly follows the mantra of closer-is-better, with semillon from Murrumbateman and shiraz from Canberra, but there’s a selection from France, too. Even if you’re not a regular, the buzzing restaurant’s small team treats you like one, and you’ll wish you lived close enough that you could be.
Gourmet Traveller’s star-ratings, which range from zero to three stars, reflect reviewers’ first-hand experiences. The best-rated restaurants form our national Top 100. Our wine ratings, from zero to three stars, are made by wine editor Max Allen on the strength of the quality of the restaurant’s wine list. View our rating key here.
