Restaurant review: paddock to plate at Pavilion Dining, Pialligo

Maybe it's because over the course of the pandemic I'd become something of a devotee, ordering produce boxes from the Market Grocer, challenging myself to cook with whatever ingredients arrived, little beetroots with dirt still on them, fancy Romanesco broccoli, huge bouquets of kale. When we could venture out again I'd pop into the shopfront at The Plot, coming home with little jars of condiments, zucchini pickles, marinated baby figs which worked equally as well on a cheese plate as they did in a dessert. In many ways, Pialligo shaped how I ate, and cooked, during lockdown.

So I was keen to see how the experts did it, working with the same ethos. When executive chef Mark Glenn arrived from Melbourne in July 2021, he was excited by the idea of working with the estate's produce, looking to raise the bar but still maintain that whole paddock to plate idea.

While only nine minutes from the centre of Canberra, Pialligo has been a working farm since the 1820s. On the 28 hectares of fertile land on the banks of the Molonglo there's an olive grove with 400 trees; 1000 trees in the orchard, growing peaches, cherries, figs and pomegranates among others; two hectares of market garden, where Glenn works in conjunction with head gardener Peter Anderson to decide, effectively, what's on the menu.

And this is where I love it, because so much of it is on the menu.

Like my entree of heritage tomatoes with black garlic and flathead roe. I'm told more than 22 varieties of tomatoes are grown. Here there's a mix of colours, red, yellow, green, little cherry ones and a generous slice of a large deep-red one. Bathed in a light coat of olive oil, the roe has been dehydrated, fried and crumbled, bringing texture and saltiness; the black garlic is used sparingly and well, but it's the tomatoes that shine.

The Jerusalem artichokes do in their starter as well. Sliced thinly into chips, they're a good foil to the spanner crab meat which is tender and light, there's a touch of miso and some malt.

For mains, we go with the hand-rolled buckwheat pasta, with pumpkin and a pepita pesto and a duck breast with pickled cherries and beetroot.

The pasta is an attractive dish, there's a bright yellow bed of pureed squash with tender chunks of butternut pumpkin nestled in among the little sheets of pasta, which is well-cooked.

The pesto has a good nutty taste and the addition of pepitas brings texture and a nod of resourcefulness that the whole ingredient has been used.

The duck dish is a star. We wonder if the ducks have been plucked from the banks of the Molonglo (the answer is no) but the beetroots and cherries are both estate grown. Apparently, hundreds of kilograms of cherries were harvested this season, some of them ended up as pickles and here they are sharp and rich, perfect alongside the duck.

The meat is well cooked, the fat rendered, the skin crisp, the flesh pink and tender. But beetroots, how I love you so. I can hardly believe I hated this vegetable once, sliced, from a can, forced into a hamburger. Here, it's served two ways, little wedges, roasted, and this most amazing puree, a luminous magenta, sweet and smooth.

Sides tonight include a late-season Polaris corn and grain salad ($12), full of texture and flavour that reminds you summer is long over. It's the kind of dish you poke about in for a while, taking note of what's in it, perhaps to recreate at home.

The menu option is two courses for $59, three for $69, which I think represents superb value for money. Of course, we add in dessert.

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In the fig crostoli, the estate-grown figs are showcased. Sandwiched between golden and crispy fried pastry and served with a creme diplomat infused with fig leaf; it's a fruit that's sweet and simple, sharpened by a drizzle of honey which is also made from hives on the estate.

The soft chocolate, with Tilba Dairy jersey milk sorbet is a more complex dessert. There's an almost pudding-like base hidden away under golden crumb, topped with a delicate quenelle of the lightest sorbet. The dessert is rich, yet light, at the same time. Delicious.

The wine list is extensive. We're told we can order anything off it by the glass. Do we dare ask them to open that $155 bottle of French rose? Instead, we settle on a glass from Collector Wines, a rose and a shiraz. Collector's winemaker Alex McKay is helping with the Pialligo wines now too, we're told. A drop of the house riesling is light and refreshing, surprisingly good.

There's also the option of ordering the four-course sharing menu ($85pp). Here you start with the trademark charcuterie, some sharing entrees and mains, followed by your choice of dessert. At the moment this menu showcases a slow-roasted lamb shoulder served with Romesco sauce and garden greens. Perhaps another time.

Because there will be another time. And it will be sooner than four years. The team at Pialligo is doing what we should all be doing, thinking about produce first, treating it with care and simplicity. And here they are doing it with great success.

Address: Pialligo Estate, 18 Kallroo Road, Pialligo

Phone: 62476060

Website: thepialligoestate.com.au

Hours: Lunch, Thursday-Friday, noon-2.30pm, Saturday, 11am-2.30pm, Sunday 11am-3pm; Dinner, Thursday-Saturday, 6-10pm

Owners: John and Melissa Russell

Chef: Mark Glenn, executive chef, and Abbey Boyd

Noise: Not a problem

Vegetarian: A few options

Outside dining: Not in in the main restaurant