Dining / Into the Garden of delight

WHEN I first visited the Sculpture Garden Restaurant after it was transformed into a summer pop-up café in conjunction with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Foundation, all the veggie plants surrounding the dining area were in their infancy, but looking mighty attractive. That was just before Christmas.

Wendy Johnson.

I next visited a couple of months later and the darling little plants had gone, well, berserk; the tomatoes plants were huge, the zucchini, capsicums, eggplant and cucumber all growing at lightning speed and bunches of herbs flourishing.

It’s absolute fabulous to dine in a big garden and the restaurant has added to the food experience with the simple, but fun décor – baskets with gardening tools, tin water cans hanging from the ceiling, staff in jean shorts and bright red T-shirts, and rubber gardening boots scattered about.

The foundation started with Stephanie Alexander’s vision to make food education full of flavour and fun, and accessible to every Australian school with a primary curriculum. It’s a nutritious recipe for effective food education and lots of adults could learn a thing or two about eating better, too.

At the Sculpture Garden Restaurant, which borders on the marsh pond at the National Gallery of Australia, the menu changes every fortnight, in celebration of what’s ripe and ready to go.

You won’t go wrong enjoying a bit of wood-fired damper with olives and whipped olive oil as a starter. The rest of the menu features three mains, three sides and three choices of dessert (children’s lunch is also available). Two courses, including sides, $44; three courses, including sides, $55.

Mains include tender roast-beef rump with green mojo, delicate baked barramundi with caper beurre blanc and a hearty vegetarian shepherd’s pie with kipfler potato crust and house-made tomato chutney.

The sides are delicious and the Sculpture Garden Restaurant has put a lot of effort into creating inspiring options. The current menu stands up to this and features, for example, Kohlrabi, apple and mint slaw with lemon-scented yoghurt dressing and sautéed green veggies with toasted sesame and chili.

Desserts don’t disappoint. The rich (and decadent) chocolate mousse is served with roasted almond ice cream and espresso crumble. The lemon curd tart is accompanied with minted mascarpone and lemon biscotti and the poached stone fruit with crystallised ginger and almond cream.

The Sculpture Garden Restaurant is a beautiful spot and is donating $1 from every meal to the Kitchen Garden Foundation.

The Sculpture Garden Restaurant closes for the season in late April or early May.

Open for breakfast on weekends, 8am-11am, and lunch, Wednesday-Sunday, noon-3pm. Call 6240 6660.