Yield in Birregurra celebrates the farms and farmers of the region

You’ve probably heard of Birregurra, but now there’s another very good reason for foodies to visit this tiny town — and this one doesn’t rhyme with “hay”.

Flaxseed crisps with carrot hummus, haloumi and pumpkin tofu. Picture: Supplied

The linseeds in the terrific little crisps come from Lidgerwood Seeds just down the road. They’re teamed with carrots grown by Joe Sgro at his Otways organic farm in Yeo, while Scott at Witsend Pulses in the Wimmera supplies the chickpeas with the two transformed into hummus to scoop onto those crisps.

Never before has a farmer-first ethos been more pervasive in our dining experiences. It’s a welcome, growing movement helped along, in no small part, by such initiatives as the Delicious Produce Awards and this year’s #knowyourproducer tagline resonates with an ever-wider audience.

Country style lamb shoulder with red lentil and sauerkraut salad.

For the past six years Birregurra has been synonymous with just one word and while Brae continues to burn ever brighter, Dan and Jules Hunter have always hoped people would stick around after visiting them to explore their town.

Now, with Yield, there is finally a terrific reason to.

Simon and Kara Stewart took over Birregurra Farm Foods and, on the first day of spring last year opened Yield, a one-two restaurant and provisions store.

It was exciting news for the tiny town of just 828, for Bespoke Harvest in Forrest was quite the destination for a few years when Simon was in the kitchen there, thanks to his unfussy yet refined, produce-first, regionally celebratory fare.

Carb loading with class: Angelhair pasta, broccoli and Shaw River pecorino. Picture: Supplied

Here, in a handsome Main St storefront space he’s cooking a daily changing set menu of four courses served with gentle humour and patent pride by Kara, who’s charged with telling the stories of where all those seeds and grains and veg came from.

It’s heartfelt and endearingly earnest yet never laboured, just as Simon’s cooking is generous and clever yet as accessible for the Friday night farmer in for a treat as the out-of-town blow-in doing a lunch-dinner double act with Brae (highly recommended).

Those tasty little salty crisps and sweet carrot hummus is quick to hit the table, alongside an outstanding piece of haloumi from Geelong’s L’Artisan topped with a caper and walnut salsa and an alluring pumpkin “tofu” — soup set with agar-agar — wrapped in daikon and served with soused onions in a pepperberry spiked soy caramel dressing.

Rhubarb fool is a smart use of the seasonal veg and a winter winner.

It’s an impressive opening salvo equally impressively followed up with a bowl of broccoli and spelt angelhair pasta. The broccoli — like the pumpkin — comes from Stewarts’ own patch, the nutty strands of perfectly cooked pasta tossed through charred nubs of the vibrant brassica, a blizzard of super sharp Shaw River buffalo pecorino and a big crack of pepper covering the lot.

Shaw River cheese is rightfully lauded as some of the best in the country and here against the nutty spelt and grassy, herbaceous broccoli its creamy sharpness couldn’t shine brighter. It’s a cracking dish.

A slab of spelt sourdough with good crust comes with lovely soft cultured butter to slather for a classy double act of carb loading before a pre-main spritzy lime and lemongrass green tea kombucha is served that could only be bettered had it come with a splash of vodka.

Yield Restaurant and Provedore in Birregurra. Picture: Christopher McConville

Booze is an equally considered evocation of the shop local ethos, with the dozen-odd well-chosen whites and reds drawn from the Greater Geelong region (Provenance, Sarge, Between Five Bells) teamed with a good looking range of beers from Forrest Brew and Prickly Moses as well as a line in farmhouse ales.

It’s a considered package at every turn; sub $40 bottles keep locals onside and if you find a drop you can’t live without, you’ll find it at the providore for home. Mains to follow are country generosity at its finest, with flavours sharp and precise.

Slow roasted lamb shoulder, steamingly tender and crunchily gnarly, comes with a fabulous red lentil and sauerkraut salad, golden raisins adding pops of sweetness to the properly sharp cabbage thanks to the week it spent in big handcrafted clay crocks out back.

The dining room at Yield, Birregurra. Picture: Christopher McConville

Alongside, crunchy roasted goodness in the form of a bowl of purple and trent potatoes, and comforting creaminess in the form of baked polenta with pumpkin and Meredith’s goat’s feta.

To finish, a knockout fool of gloriously tart rhubarb and clouds of Shultz cream are topped with a caramelised pepitas and nuts that keeps the sweetness in check.

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It’s a perfectly pitched and paced meal that, for $75 a head, is a bit of a bargain to boot.

In fact, the only thing I’d change is the exorcist green walls in the dining room that could also do with softer lighting to bring it into the warmth of the rest of the experience.

But otherwise, Yield is simply delightful. Lucky little Birregurra.

Yield

43 Main St, Birregurra

yieldbirregurra.com.au

Score: 15/20

Open: Sat-Mon lunch; Fri-Sat dinner.

Go-to dish: Rhubarb fool