Life is cyclical…Kitchen gardens were once a necessity to supply food to hungry dining rooms, now they are clever marketing tools capitalising on our desire for fresh S.O.L.E. food.
Collected rain and spring water provided sustenance to regional areas, now it’s bottled and sold as a fashion accessory.
Going to a friend’s home for dinner was a special occasion, now we dine at fancy restaurants, as we can’t remember how to cook.
Seasonality is an old fashioned term that existed before the days of air freighted food that supplies goods all year round from far away places.
Family style platters of real food were prepared with love, now restaurant a la carte and degustation are kings - or worse - the fast food epidemic.
Meals use to be inexpensive and yet high on quality, now meals can be either very expensive and high on quality or inexpensive and poor on quality.
This is the reality of food today; yet everything old, can and is becoming new again.
Sunnybrae at Birregurra is a perfect example of this.
I had the pleasure to dine at the reopened Sunnybrae a couple of weekends ago and experienced the old fashioned hospitality of George Biron’s restaurant and home. With excited anticipation of the trip, I spoke with a few friends whom had dined at Sunnybrae in the 1990’s before it had a 7 year hibernation, to try and get a feeling for the experience; it seems very little has changed.
Visiting
George’s blog, you get a warm, passionate insight to him as a chef and restaurateur, this was my motivator for the day trip to Birregurra, in person George completes the picture, he does not just offer words on a website.
The food at Sunnybrae was (more than) generous and refined. The menu consisted of five courses, plus house baked bread served with Georges own just-pressed olive oil and some local olives. The experience is low on the need for decision making; perhaps a chat about different main course options if you like, or otherwise it’s wild rabbit with beetroot and pomegranates, and pick your dessert/cheese course and your done. The handwritten menu changes regularly and is filled with the fruits from the Sunnybrae garden and the surrounding region, it's seasonal and classically respectful.
The meal is a set price of $66 per person, a price that George feels is fair and right, and that I think is too little for such a banquet. I doubt that many people would blink an eye, if that learnt that the price was $99, the sense of value would still be strong. This more than reasonable price is obviously obtainable from a combination of having your own property and the desire and know how to develop the garden to produce fresh food or use basics to add value at the table. Most people charge money for the advantages that their skill and experience brings, Sunnybrae seems happy to share the love.
Milk-fed lamb for main course
Succulent salad - served with main course
Upside down spiced cumquat cake for dessert
We drank rainwater from the property and enjoyed some served sparkling, as promised, from retro soda siphons, we also byo’ed a special bottle of Champagne to share and selected from the list of local wines – again very well priced – no balancing act going on here, with the wine list subsidising the menu.
My favourite dish and actually my May Dish of the Month (a tad late!) is the
Spanish-style ham with spiced tomatillos, avocados and limes – Sunnybrae
The ham was curiously gorgeous; soft, nutty and delicate, as good as any I have eaten in Australia, yet the flavour combinations of the salsa blew my socks off.
The South American combination of ripe avocado, lime (and zest?) and the
pickled tomatillos was always going to be good but this was amazing, slightly textural, slightly creamy, slightly tangy, just delectable.
A day trip to Sunnybrae is an experience that I hope all passionate foodies get to experience, it’s an old fashioned country restaurant offering modern, enchanting food in the surrounds of a large property (with a sadly dry lake), with friendly staff and a great cook. For me it’s a shame that it's such a drive away but I have since learnt about the possibility of taking the train (and a walk to and from the station), something that I think would be perfect in the right weather and look forward to doing this once it warms.
Being at Sunnybrae refreshes my mind about what pure hospitality is all about - a little taste of this, a splash of that - a desire to share, both time, skill and love of good food. Some old things do become new again, but usually only the good ones.
Welcome back Sunnybrae.
Being strictly of the seasonal food camp, it has greatly amused me that my tiny courtyard garden has proven to be so unseasonal this year. 