Patch, Stirling | SA Weekend restaurant review

The hugely talented chef-owner of this humble Stirling cafe is taking no shortcuts – expect contemporary soul food that greets you like a big bear hug.

Inside Patch, Stirling. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

A high-flying chef from the city abandons the big smoke and opens a place of his own close to home in the country. The locals have a few reservations about this Johnny-come-lately but are soon won over and start bringing baskets of their own-grown bounty to the door.

The story behind the rebirth of Patch at Stirling might sound like the script for a TV series but, of course, the real narrative is more complex than that.

For a start, the town of Stirling, in distance at least, is as much a part of the metropolitan area as suburbs like Brighton or Brahma Lodge. But with tracts of farmland and bush only a hillside or two away, the local people and the lifestyles they choose can still be markedly different.

Dining room at Patch, Stirling.

Beef pot pie at Patch, Stirling.

Regianno flan with meat ragu at Patch, Stirling.

Then there’s the chef in question, Andrew Davies, a key figure in the success of CBD powerhouses Osteria Oggi and the original Press Food and Wine. While working at the top end of town, he has lived with his family at a property in Uraidla for many years, which goes some of the way to explaining his knockabout demeanour. These threads have come together in the restaurant/cafe Davies has created alongside his wife, Belle, and another couple.

Until this group took charge in February, Patch had been a child-friendly cafe, so retaining the name caused some early angst among existing customers.

The new version is certainly different. Years of questionable modifications have been stripped away to create a smart, welcoming haven that makes great use of repurposed furniture (some from Press).

Davies has pulled together some of the greatest hits of his previous venues for Patch, with a selection of Oggi-style pasta vying for attention with Press’ burger, steak and even a suckling pig feast to share. But it’s more than a tribute show. There is a common theme here. Honesty. Hard work. No shortcuts or artifice. This is contemporary soul food that greets you like a big bear hug.

Andrew Davies cooked in some of Adelaide’s best restaurants before taking over Patch, Stirling. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Those impossibly light crumbed fingers of polenta, for instance, that are simply dipped into a dish of mildly smoky passata. Or the rainbow colours of the vegetable pickles that Belle has been making at home for ages, their carefully moderated acidity right at home beside a glass of wine.

Better still is the slice of baked flan, a fluffy custard packed with parmesan and a lovely meat ragu dolloped on top so its juices are just starting to soak through.

Patch’s printed menu is supplemented by a passing parade of specials that are given a test run before they make the permanent list.

The beef pot pie is one special that has to be a keeper. While the puff pastry lid is properly crisp and flaky, it is what lies beneath that makes this special. Beef necks are braised overnight in a low oven, producing both the luscious, fall-apart meat and a dark, lip-sticking stock that is stirred through the filling and also served in a flask to the side. This is a pie to get you through winter.

Saffron braised goat with macaroni at Patch, Stirling.

Raspberry souffle and mixed gelato at Patch, Stirling.

Similar commitment is shown in the pasta that is all produced on site. The satisfying chew of twisted batons of caserecce works a treat with soft, supple strips of braised leek, radicchio, roasted hazelnuts and big, oozy blobs of the creamy Italian cheese squacquerone, that is the likely source of the dish’s saltiness.

Maccheroni tubes, meanwhile, stand in for couscous or potatoes in a Marrakech-meets-Milan encounter with slow-braised goat in a divine saffron-based broth that is a welcome shift from the usual cumin-dominated Middle Eastern spicing.

Desserts maintain the standard. Layers of almond and hazelnut dacquoise are top and bottom of a scrumptious “sandwich” of nougat ice-cream spiked with praline and citrus peel.

A raspberry souffle has risen proudly from its ramekin and, when broken open, is a pretty pink shade through the mixture.

Perfection, really. Good enough to go on TV. And good enough to keep the locals happy.