Chef Reece Inkpen’s handmade plates are the perfect vessel for his thoughtful dishes. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
As bottle-shop/wine bar Paranormal Wines celebrates its fifth anniversary, I figured it was well past time to return for dinner.
Last time I visited (too long ago) chef Aidan Kidson was running the tiny kitchen, but chef Reece Inkpen has been at the helm for the past couple of years.
The menu remains small – appropriate for the shoebox kitchen – with a strong emphasis on local produce. Reece gets a weekly delivery of local fruits and vegetables from food and farming co-operative Southern Harvest which forms the backbone of the menu.
But, first things first, we check out the drinks list. After perusing the list I opt for an Adelaide Hills Chardonnay, which is smooth and textural and a lovely match for the fresh dishes on the menu.
My dining companion is booze-free at the moment, but that is no issue for Paranormal: owner Max Walker rattles off a long list of non-alcoholic options ranging from a de-alcoholised German Riesling, non-alcoholic beers and a range of sodas. She chooses a T.I.N.A (This Is Not Alcohol) sparkling iced tea.
If I’d known this soup would change my life I would have taken a nicer photo. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
When ordering at the bar, I’m struggling to choose between a few larger dishes when I am given excellent news: most of the vegetable dishes can be served as a half portion. We order a range of dishes to share.
First up is a chilled melon soup, served in darling little soup cups apparently made, like most of the crockery, by Reece himself.
It would NEVER occur to me to make a chilled melon soup but I haven’t stopped thinking about this dish ever since. It’s refreshing, a little sweet, creamy in a way that delivers flavour to every corner of your palate and there’s a playful touch of spice. Utterly delightful.
Reece also brings us out a small gougère pastry each, filled with comté cheese and topped with a single Olasagasti anchovy. Popping the one-bite morsel into our mouths, the pastry gives way to a warm explosion of cheese, with salty overtones of anchovy. Yum.
The gougerè pastry with comté cheese and anchovy is a one-bite delight. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
From there, we head down vegetable highway: destination flavour town. Fried potatoes with a creamy centre and moreish spiced salt mix. Shishito peppers, skins blistered with char, served with a garlic chive sauce. Fresh and zingy cucumber salad with green almonds. And – our favourite – a tomato and strawberry salad with a peach dressing. Thin slices of beefsteak tomatoes hide a treasure trove of semi-dried tomatoes and fresh strawberries: the play of textures is lovely.
You can tell Reece is a vegetable lover. He has treated each ingredient with care and skill to create dishes which seem deceptively simple on the surface.
Food nerds (like me) will enjoy analysing each mouthful: “How did he get that texture? Where is that extra flavour coming from?” Non-food nerds will enjoy every delicious forkful.
This salad is a celebration of tomatoes during peak season. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Our non-veg dish of the evening is smoked mackerel with bunya nut cream and zucchini. The mackerel is far from subtle, but the cream with basil leaves is lovely. We also grab a serve of bread which adds some extra texture and balances out the strong fish.
We’re full, but can’t resist something to finish. I ordered the sour plum sorbet, served with umeshu plum spirit. The first mouthful is almost too much: so sour and very alcoholic. But then the flavours start to combine and it’s like magic: the umeshu becomes almost foamy and each mouthful is better than the last.
I can see that Reece has confidence in his vision: trust in his expertise and be rewarded with a truly memorable meal. I will be thinking about the soup for a long time …
Paranormal Wines is at G27/6 Provan Street, Campbell. It is open from noon to 8 pm Wednesday and Thursday, noon to 9 pm on Friday, 11 am to 9 pm on Saturday and noon to 7 pm on Sunday. Follow Paranormal Wines on Instagram.
Original Article published by Lucy Ridge on Region Canberra.
