Restaurant review: Two Before 10's 10 Yards in Aranda is hitting all the marks

The Aranda shops had been empty for almost two decades before Two Before 10 moved in in 2014. One of those angled, awkward-looking suburban buildings, with little street frontage; owner Chris Dennis thinks it was once voted the second-ugliest building in Canberra.

And Aranda is one of those polarising suburbs. Is it Belco? Is it west Inner North? I have friends who live in Macquarie and Florey who tell me Aranda Primary School is an off-shoot of Radford. Someone even called it "toity". There's a word we don't use often enough.

But Dennis and his team have breathed life into the place, wherever it sits. In so many ways. It's Two Before 10 by day, serving breakfast from 7am till 2pm. At night 10 Yards comes to life.

And then there's the Aranda Urban Farm which ties it all together.

How exciting is it to walk in for a meal through the garden beds which extend out into the car park knowing that the paddock-to-plate footprint here is literally a few metres? There's a mushroom farm, fruit and nut trees, bee hives and spots ready-made to ferment things, recycle and compost.

My heart fills with joy when I see a kitchen hand duck out during the night and return with something hidden under a tea-towel. I'm just imagining that his tray is laden with garden greens, one of the side dishes we've ordered.

Because we're here for a restaurant review, I'd better stop rambling about "philosophy" and talk about whether or not the food can back it up. It's all well and good to talk the talk, will 10 Yards walk the walk?

We start with a couple of small plates, the beetroot ricotta dip ($12) and the white sardines on toast ($18).

I think you do need to grow beetroot to fully appreciate how wonderful it is. So many of us grew up with thin slices in a can, but roast it people! It's magical. Here it's blended with a house-made ricotta made from the leftover steamed milk from the cafe, topped with salty, crunchy chickpeas and fresh herbs. This dish is all about texture: smooth, creamy, crunchy. It's great.

The sardines are fabulous too. Pan-seared with a mustardy creme fraiche, tang from pickled fennel, on a soft slice of sourdough. The sardines themselves are salty and flavourful, I just wish there had been a bit more fish on the plate, for they were very moreish.

For mains, there's a "favourites" menu, steak, burger, schnitzel, all given a twist. There's local smoked ham on the parmi, house-made pickles and chutney on the burger. Keep an eye out for the specials menu too, depending on what's in season, what's growing well. There was a lamb cutlet on tonight, served with garlic mash, and I felt somewhat smug knowing how it was butchered.

But the crispy-skin Kaeng Phat chicken ($30) on the mains list grabs our attention. Crispy, chicken, curry, what could go wrong? It's a vibrant dish, the red curry sauce is bright, there's several baby cos lettuce leaves on the side. Which is a good thing, because the curry base has a mighty kick, the lettuce balances it all out somehow. I'd never think to serve lettuce with a curry but it works. The chicken itself is a well-cooked breast supreme, tender and sliced thickly, the skin is caramelly and crispy. An interesting way to twist the traditional idea of a curry.

The next workshop I'm keen to do is the sausage making one, again with David Peddle. So when I see smoked sausage ($30) on the menu I'm keen to see how his son Josh, who's the head chef here, uses the humble snag.

It's basically posh sausages and mash. The sausages have been smoked, thinly sliced - I would have liked them sliced a bit thicker, but I'm a thick sausage kind of woman - served on creamy mash, with roast baby onions, charred broccolini and a balsamic reduction. It's a simple dish, but each part has been treated with care.

We pair the mains with Aranda garden greens ($12). It's a mix of broccolini, kale and chard tonight, pan fried with a generous scattering of chilli and some toasty almonds. A perfect side.

There is a real focus on wine here too. I dare suggest this is the most local wine list you'll find in the Canberra District. From Barton Estate, to Yarrh Wines, again backing up that dedication to local producers. It's a weeknight so we ignore bottles of reasonably priced Clonakilla shiraz or Lark Hill's gruner veltliner, opting instead for a few choices from the by-the-glass menu. There's a Lerida Estate prosecco (which was deliciously dry for a prosecco) and a Linear Wines shiraz, and, okay, I may have discovered a new local rosé. Apologies, I'd never heard of Leslie Henshaw's Chroma Wines, but I'm a fan of his Harvey rosé. Delish.

It is a weeknight and we arrive early, 6pm; by seven, people are being seated at the bar waiting for tables to open up. The young wait staff are doing a super job keeping everyone happy, casual and efficient, friendly but with that Gen Z laissez faire. There's a big group at the table where we did our butchery class, families braving the cold in the covered outdoor area. It's full to the brim. On a Tuesday.

Full of people who I think understand what's happening here. Suburban places like this often get missed by those of us who don't live locally. Perhaps that's the essence of a good local, nobody wants anyone outside the postcode to know too much about it.

But people! Go to Aranda. And if anyone can tell me what the ugliest building in Canberra is, I'll shout you a glass of Chroma's Harvey rosé.

Address: 68 Bandjalong Cres, Aranda

Phone: 0456 500 969

Website: twobeforeten.com.au

Hours: Tuesday to Thursday, 4pm-late; Friday to Sunday, 2pm-late

Chef: Toby Peddle

Noise: No problem

Dietary: Plenty of options