“We know all of our producers, we source from all over our region, and we use the best seasonal ingredients from around Australia. We also gather what we need from the wild, while leaving enough to regenerate.”

“Honey from our bees“; hot-smoked rib meat with prunes; and sheep’s cheese with young peas and charred broccoli.

The seedlings and garden beds tell the story: Biota is dedicated to unearthing ingredients from close by. Cheese comes from nearby Pecora Dairy, The Good Garlic Guy, Russell McKean, supplies potatoes and garlic grown in seaweed beds in neighbouring Kangaloon, and in exchange for a case of beer, Biota receives rosemary flowers foraged from Mittagong. One year, the Jerusalem artichoke patch ran so rampant that Chef James Viles sold the excess to Matt Moran’s Aria restaurant.

Native ingredients such as bunya nuts and Davidson plum often weave layers of flavour into the five or seven courses of beautifully plated food or through the next-door bar’s walk-in menu. The wine list is all-Australian, with sommelier Ben Shephard sourcing directly from vineyards, often within cooee in the Southern Highlands.

In truth, the diners at Biota probably travel further than the food – lucky, then, that there are Tesla chargers on site.

“A restaurant with deep connections to the people and forests of the Southern Highlands, and with food that is all the better for it.”

–Madeline Crittenden, Southern Highland News