Getting Figgy With It

Executive Chef Michael Box heroes local and seasonal produce in Capitol Bar & Grill’s winter menu

This winter our menu at Capitol Bar & Grill weaves a wonderful tale, with chapters upon chapters of prose about local and seasonal produce.

This July, we sat down with the author and Executive Chef Michael Box, to hear firsthand about his love letter to local.

So Michael, winter is in full swing and, well it’s freezing. We hear it’s been heating up in the kitchen at Capitol Bar & Grill, tell us what’s on the Winter menu.

It’s all about local and seasonal. Coming into winter you’ll see the likes of the slightly sweet yet sour cumquat’s which are preserved in-house, locally grown heirloom tomatoes which have been simply prepared in a raw salad, nutty and sweet Jerusalem artichokes roasted whole with confit garlic and thyme, butter. Don’t forget pumpkins slowly roasted over ironbark wood.

You can sink your teeth into our new take on a Capitol Bar & Grill favourite, the 2GR Wagyu Beef Pie. The pie features 2GR Wagyu beef, locally made all butter puff pastry, silky-smooth Paris mash and a beautiful rich slow braised filling.

As we move through the months of winter, we will be updating our menus a little more frequently to showcase the produce throughout its peak. We are going to transition from coal roasted beetroots to braised brassicas to perfectly complement our premium beef program.

We hear a dessert classic is back, and with a vengeance!

It sure is. We’ve introduced our bombe alaska. We really want to highlight the local fig grower Hundred Acres Produce and their amazing figs. We are using the figs fresh, dried, and made into a jam, and folded through ice cream.

How do you source such local and fresh produce? 

We work Sydney Direct Fresh Produce, they have been outstanding. The team have been able to supply QT Canberra throughout this difficult time with beautiful produce. The constant strive for premium ingredients is unmatched.

For QT Canberra quests that want to stay snuggled in, what should they be ordering on the room-service menu?  

Definitely our pan fried barramundi with saltbush, kale, lemon and alto olive oil. A perfect wine pairing is our Pankhurst Arneis.

What is your favourite dish on the winter menu?

Our bombe alaska. The addition of seasonal figs that we have dried and turned into jam is such a great take on the classic. I love that it really heroes the ingredient.

And lastly, your go-to tipple for winter?

It’s a tie. Either our QTie Chaos, with Four Pillars X QT Ordered Chaos Gin, mezcal, lemon juice, hibiscus syrup and aquafaba, or our Irish Old Fashioned, with Shanky’s Whip, Aperol, George Dickel Bourbon, bitters and maraschino cherry.

Ready for all the above and more? Click here to book a table at Capitol Bar & Grill.