Farmhouse

Dessert Eat & Drink Modern Australian Travel Wine

Jackie McMillan
March 18, 2015

Lured in by their award-winning artisan bacon, I came to be at Canberra’s latest dining destination, Farmhouse, a mere week after they opened. Youthful Chef Brendan Walsh has produced a mature menu that reflects his time with Alain Ducasse at London’s Dorchester and at Melbourne’s Vue de Monde. And despite an outstanding floor team led by Jan Gundlach, he even presents a few dishes himself. Walsh’s description of the Inglewood Farm Chook ($40), “finished in its own juices with turnips from the back paddock, and the corn you drove through on the way in,” connect the diner to the restaurant philosophy. It celebrates the outputs of Pialligo Estate – the market vegetable gardens, orchards, olive grove, smokehouse and vineyards. This connection to the land shines brightly in a picturesque collection of Heritage Tomatoes, Burrata and Grilled Peach ($19); though the sea isn’t neglected either, with superb quality Yellowfin Tuna, Sea Blight, Tasmanian Wasabi and Almond ($22), easily my dish of the night. The pleasant interplay between chef and sommelier endeared me to a lovely 2013 Jamsheed Roussanne ($59/bottle), before an earthy blood pudding-enriched jus with gingerbread and Biodynamic Lynden Lamb ($42) turned everything red. The locally-produced 2012 Collector ‘Red Rose City’ Sangiovese ($14/glass) answered the challenge, stretching to a well-ripened selection of homegrown and international Cheese ($24).