Capital Bar & Grill – September Menu

By Tarn Morrow.

Georgie Neal, our resident QT Forager is on a mission to bring the finest artisanal produce to the kitchen.

As with every month we’ve got several new additions to the Capitol Bar and Grill menu. This month we are excited about native pepper berries from Woodbridge in Tasmania, turmeric from a small market garden on Tamborine Mountain in Queensland, fennel pollen and broccoli shoots. Piece this together with our culinary team headed by QT Creative Food Director Robert Marchetti and you have #cbgfoodporn waiting to be enjoyed.

Diemen Pepper in Woodbridge Tasmania, specialises in the products of the Tasmanian rainforest plant, native pepper. They harvest, dry and prepare pepper berries and pepper leaf for sale across Australia and also internationally. Chris Reed from Diemen also grows lemon myrtle as well collaborating with other local producers of native foods such as wattleseed, bush tomatoes and salt bush. Throughout September you can taste the native pepper berries in the sauce of our new dish “The Art of Artichoke”. Parmesan & polenta crumbed artichoke hearts, gratinated with gruyère crust on a gin-tomato-chilli pepper berry sauce. A delightful starter and a must try…trust me!

On Tamborine Mountain, an area rich in red volcanic soil, Bill and Di Brauer grow fresh turmeric organically, in a small market garden. It started as a hobby but their produce was in such demand that their retirement plans went “on hold”. QT Gold Coast has been buying their produce for a number of months – ranging from beautiful lettuce varieties and leafy greens to beetroot, carrots and the full spectrum of spring veg. They harvest on the day of delivery…luckily turmeric travels well and they have been able to send this to Capitol Bar and Grill here in Canberra. To highlight this we’ve composed the “Warm Smooth Operator”, a rich smooth cauliflower soup, finished with mascarpone on a roasted turmeric cauliflower steak. You will not go wrong with these flavours.

After many years in Melbourne as Chefs, Matt Donnelly and Jo Corrigan made the move to Romsey in the Macedon Ranges just two years ago. When conditions are right they traverse the state wild picking some of the best mushrooms in town, from pines and saffron milk caps to grey ghosts, wood blewits and parasols. They are providing us currently with fennel pollen which our chefs have portrayed in our new “Seafood Fritto Misto Not In a Basket”, with Peroni & fennel battered seafood, shrimp, oyster, calamari, flathead, eggplant, zucchini and a zesty salsa verde.

Finally the broccoli shoots we have in the kitchen come from Gerard Saad and family from Freemans Reach in the Hawkesbury. The Saad family have been farming in the Hawkesbury for many years, growing mainly potatoes, broccoli and corn.