Hard to top Topiary

The husband-and-wife team behind an unassuming garden centre eatery have created one of this year’s most pleasant surprises, writes Simon Wilkinson

Borscht at Topiary, Tea Tree Gully

Kane Pollard doesn’t like to throw anything away. Show him cauliflower leaves or carrot tops and he will put them to good use. The briny liquid let loose by mussels when they are steamed? That goes into a mayo. The pods from a garlicky weed that pops up on a nearby hillside? It makes a brilliant alternative to capers.

The cheery young chef at Topiary has always been notable for living up to those words that so many others throw around … sustainable, seasonal, local et cetera. And when he says a starter plate is made from scratch, he’s referring to the cheese, the smallgoods, the pickles, the olives and the butter … not just the bread.

Two years on from my first visit, I’m amazed by how sophisticated his little restaurant has become.

Topiary chef Kane Pollard at Topiary Restaurant Photo: AAP Image/Sam Wundke

Plates are delivered with the natural beauty in presentation and knee-trembling flavour matches you’d expect from one of our elite diners, at a far higher price. Faced with this, it is easy to forget that Topiary is still, in part, a humble garden centre cafe.

It still does eggs every which way for breakfast. Even at lunch, customers will take a break from the geraniums and pop in for coffee and a scone.

Changes in the old cottage that serves as the dining room have been gradual but profound. Furniture and tablecloths have been replaced and bunches of dried herbs hang from the lumpy walls that have been painted white. It feels less quaint tearoom and more rustic Scandi farmhouse. Tables on a paved courtyard outside will be in demand now that spring has finally sprung.

Kane’s wife Adele manages both areas and shows intimate knowledge – and more than a little pride – in what he and his team are producing.

That starts with the bread, as good a white sourdough as you will find anywhere (remember to buy a loaf to take home on the way out). It comes with cultured butter and a wild fennel salt.

Then the wild ride begins. A squid ink crumpet is as black as a lump of coal. On top are mussels that have been steamed and smoked over applewood, the mussel mayo, shavings of fermented fennel and a final glaze of tangelo marmalade that is more citrus than sweet and looks like liquid amber. Get the ratios right on the fork and it is heavenly.

Gnocchi at Topiary

Vegetarians might wince but it isn’t just beetroot that makes the borscht so glossy and lip-sticking. The soup is bolstered with a broth made from leftover skin and bones, then partnered by crisp roasted broccoli and horseradish cream.

The corned beef also has a little secret. The block of luxurious, fall-apart meat that has even my 14-year-old in raptures is, in fact, tongue, poached in beef fat and then pan-fried to order. A bundle of different carrots, cooked in yoghurt whey to add tang, are arranged on a green emulsion made from their tops. There’s also pods of three corner garlic, pickled like capers, and fragile wisps of charred greenery.

Less challenging, and I suspect a favourite of the garden centre crowd, are pan-fried potato gnocchi tossed with an early spring harvest of peas and beans, dollops of ricotta (made there, of course) and a nasturtium leaf oil.

Corned beef with carrots at Topiary

Still hungry? How about Coorong mullet, smoked over applewood, topped by little red onions that have been lightly pickled and filled with a surprise soft centre of sour cream. Or a pork dish, inspired by Kane’s grandparents, in which shredded and pressed pork shoulder, along with its crackling, are parcelled up in a wombok leaf with apple, fermented turnip, hot mustard and a salted plum puree. Think of it as cabbage roll meets Sunday roast.

The Fallen Leaves dessert is another stunner, with folded petals of pear and torn strips of dried quince arranged over stewed apple and honeycomb cream, before a roasted nut crumble is scattered over at the table.

At the risk of overselling Topiary and unfairly raising expectations, it has been one of this year’s most pleasant surprises – and that is despite suspecting it would be rather special.

Cooking this clever so often comes with a side serve of hubris but Kane is remarkably humble about what he is doing and why. Come visit soon. You’ll be happy and the garden will thank you.