Short Bites: Dan Stock with Melbourne’s latest food news
Woodfire pizzas and pastas will be aplenty when Common Ground Project near Geelong opens its farmhouse eatery with an Italian twist. Here’s more food news with Dan Stock.
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Nathan Toleman’s initial vision for his not-for-profit social enterprise Common Ground Project outside Geelong is about to come to fruition.
“When we took over the farm, our goal was to do a farmhouse style venue, but it took a couple of years to get the farm up to scratch. When COVID hit, we put our attention to the farm more and more, and clarified that we wanted it to be a rustic farmhouse venue,” the head of the Mulberry Group says.
Enter chef Glenn Laurie, who will put all the lessons learnt at London’s famed River Café — including its acclaimed produce-first philosophy — and reprise the Italian “cucina rustica” he served at Heidelberg’s Little Black Pig.
“I’ve waited for an opportunity like this since I was 19,” he says.
“I went to George Biron’s Sunnybrae, that was 23 years ago, and since then I’ve always wanted to do this, a farm with a small menu, pick from the gardens, and try and send people out between courses to walk in the gardens, drink a glass of wine.”
At La Cantina, Laurie will serve a tight four-course menu of antipasto, home made pastas, main courses that make the most of the wood-fired oven, and desserts from Thursday through Sunday, with partner Lolo Hansen managing the venue.
“The menu will be written once a week, minimum, could be every day. It will be Little Black Pig with a garden, in the country,” Laurie says.
For now, an abundance of tomatoes and zucchini will feature on the first menu, but Laurie has plans to grow grain for bread and pasta along with rotational seasonal crops in keeping with the farm’s regenerative agricultural approach.
Toleman says the past couple of years rebuilding the farm’s soil health is paying dividends.
“It’s a long process, but wow we’re at a point where we have enough produce to support not only a restaurant, but meals and veg boxes for local food relief agencies and an on-site farmers market.”
During COVID lockdown, the social enterprise offered a food relief program to asylum seekers in the Geelong region, employing four Afghan and four Sri Lankan women who prepared more than 3000 meals and 400 vegetable boxes for local food relief agencies.
Toleman says the program was a success and has received funding to run again from February with a dedicated community manager to roll out programs throughout the year.
“The restaurant will run, side-by-side with the farm and the program. All proceeds from farm and restaurant will be used to fund future programs like that,” he says.
“In a way COVID (made) us focus on what we wanted to do out there. It’s made us clear on regenerative farming, the awareness of where food comes from and how we can help other people in our community. It was the impetus we needed.”
La Cantina at the Common Ground Project is scheduled to open on January 21 at 675 Anglesea Rd, Freshwater Creek, serving lunch Thurs-Sun, dinner Fri-Sat and brunch on Sat-Sun from 10am.
NEW OPENINGS ACROSS MELBOURNE
Chef Alejandro Saravia’s three-level celebration of Gippsland in the heart of the CBD will open its doors on January 28.
Three years in the making, Farmer’s Daughters is one of the signature hospitality venues at 80 Collins (along with Chris Lucas/Martin Benn’s Society), and will feature a ground floor deli, restaurant with open “campfire kitchen” and rooftop bar.
Shelves filled with grab-and-go Gippsland produce for home complement the casual dining offered at the Deli — think poached Baw Baw trout and house-made pastrami rolls — while the more formal restaurant, headed by Saravia and head chef David Boyle (ex Pastuso) will serve a menu that celebrates the diversity and richness of the region.
A focus on Gippsland winemakers (Patrick Sullivan; William Downie; Bass Phillip) and spirits will naturally inform the offering complied by beverage director Matthew Jensen (ex Atlas), with regional botanicals, including the signature Farmer’s Daughter vermouth, being used in cocktails served up on the rooftop.
Saravia says Gippsland is one of the most important farming regions in the country, with its diverse geography from alpine mountains to the sea echoing in a sense that of the chef’s native Peru.
Since arriving in Melbourne in 2014, Saravia has forged strong connections to the region and has been its official food and beverage ambassador for a number of years.
Saravia says: “Off the back of the devastating bushfires and in the wake of the pandemic, supporting regional Victoria on the road to recovery has never been so important.”
The restaurant will serve dinner Wed-Sat, the Deli will open from 4pm on Wed and from noon Thurs-Sat, with the rooftop serving from 4pm Wed-Sat at 80 Collins St, city. farmersdaughters.com.au
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