“With a market garden, vineyard, olive grove, orchard and herb garden on site, we aren’t short of amazing fresh produce to ensure an authentic and unique Australian dining experience. Composted food does duty as fertilizer in the market garden, a water-filtration system cuts down reliance on the bottled stuff, and menus are printed on recycled paper.”

Charcuterie board with Pialligo’s own award-winning smokehouse produce, pickles, pâtés, and terrines; and sustainable line-caught, wood-fired flathead with house-made tartare and garden herbs.

A fire may have sadly destroyed Pialligo’s Farmhouse Restaurant in 2017, but the estate’s dedication to sustainable dining remains. Breakfast, lunch and dinner now take place in four covered garden pavilions, with ingredients sourced from the Estate’s own grove of 400 Coriggiola olive trees, two-hectare market garden that dates back 100 years (maintained with sustainable practices that are just as old), and a 1000-tree orchard that’s fragrant with peaches and nectarines. It means even the simplest dish – zucchini flowers stuffed with pumpkin and ricotta, say – comes with the most delightful views. And then there’s the smokehouse, responsible for the award-winning bacon spotted on menus across town. Such in-house dedication doesn’t mean that Pialligo is inward-looking either: hero suppliers include BumNuts Australia for eggs and Mount Cook for alpine salmon.

“What a pleasure it is to see such an ambitious venture. The Garden Pavilions could well become a Canberra tourist icon.” goodfood.com.au