Experience the best of Pialligo Estate with a private chef's table and farm tour

The estate has always been about paddock to plate and now diners can experience that from both sides of the table with a new experience. It involves a 45 minute guided tour of the kitchen garden, orchard and vineyard, led by executive chef Mark Glenn, before you head inside to Pavilion Dining at your own private chef's table, just metres from the kitchen.

From there you can watch the team of chef's turn the day's harvest into 10 or so dishes, each showcasing the best of the estate-grown produce.

Just nine minutes from the city, the estate covers 23 hectares on the banks of the Molonglo River. There are 1300 fruit trees, an olive grove, vineyard and 12 hectares of garden beds.

"We have such a unique offering here," says Glenn, who came to Pialligo in 2021 from Melbourne where he was head chef at Cumulus Inc.

"I can't think of any other restaurant that's able to source so much of its own produce, is so reliant on its own produce, and these tours are a great way for people to experience the ethos and philosophy behind what we are doing here."

In some ways it's changed his approach to food. He admits he was never a fan of tomatoes as a child, never really liked to cook with them, now he's hassling head gardener Peter Anderson to plant more, even though there are currently about 30 different varieties growing in beds and a couple of greenhouses.

"Pete and I will talk constantly about what to grow, what I want to cook with, about things he'd like to plant and how we might make it all work," says Glenn.

"He's a super, super talented farmer, with a great respect for produce."

We like the "currently in the garden" menu you get on arrival. This week there's everything from zucchini flowers, to rainbow chard, leeks, yellow beetroots and rhubarb. The menu might feature heritage tomato with smoked anchovy and basil, or a Josper-roasted Cape Grim short rib with estate-grown leaves, oregano and radish.

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In a little garden bed quite close to the kitchen, herbs grow and they're picked fresh for garnishes right before service. Tiny rare alpine strawberries grow too, full of flavour, served alongside lemon verbena in a dessert.

Pavilion Dining was recently awarded its first hat in the 2023 Good Food Guide Awards. That's garnered them some more attention from further afield with people now realising the estate is much, much more than a wedding venue.

There's also been a complete renovation of the restaurant, it's a more elegant space now with flowing curtains, textured walls, lush seating and lighting. There's a new private dining room, the whole space can be configured in different ways. Large windows provide views out to the fields beyond.

For the chef's table, diners will sit at large wooden tables crafted by Thor's Hammer at Tharwa and eat off plates supplied by Bison a few minutes down the road in Pialligo. It's all about supporting local makers and producers, even at this level.

The same philosophy extends to produce they can't grow themselves. The ducks that wander the orchard are in no danger, Glenn jokes.

"We're obviously very big on provenance," he says.

"When we can't grow, or produce, what we need, we source that produce from someone with the same mindset, and celebrate the relationship we have with those people.

"I can tell you the name of the fisherman that caught our fish, not just the company that we bought it from. His name is Bruce and we'll talk about what he's caught that day.

"It's important for us to have those relationships."