Lavender lunch with a view

This Easter Monday I had the pleasure of spending lunch in exceptionally good company at the Kooroomba Vineyards and Lavender Farm on Mt Alford, just outside of Boonah.

If the drive out wasn't scenic enough; the mountain ranges and lavender farm that surround the restaurant and cellar door was surely a sufficient view through the floor to ceiling windows. The inner decor screamed style through rustically esthetic colours of browns and greys with open fireplaces scattered around, confirming suspicions of how cold this little hide away is sure to become during the bitter Winter months.

The Autumn Menu boasts anti pasta platters featuring locally sourced olives, pates, chutneys and other condiments as well as an incredible 'mushroom cappuccino.' The mains menu includes venison, Black Angus sirloin, salmon and home made sausages. Most appropriately, many of the desserts are lavender based or inspired, including an Assiert of Lavender as well as a lavender sorbet.

Now to the wines. Over the lunch period, we downed three bottles between us, all from Kooroomba's own cellar door which is esthetically impressive with it's wall to ceiling shelves and a sturdy bar that curves around the impressive wine display. Tasting are available for a very small fee, which is automatically refunded with the purchase of any bottle. The abundance of variety with Kooroomba's wine list ensures that every one's tastes will be catered for and that a perfect match can be found for any of the meals on the impressive menu.

A man-sized meal

From the Brazilian churrasco to the Meurav Yarushalmi of Jarusalem, the asado of South America or simply the English mixed grill. There's no denying that it requires a certain amount of courage to take on one of these hearty mountains of protein. However different their names, these various versions of the dish all have one thing in common: meat.

The array of various cuts can consist of anything thing from lamb chops to gammon steaks, beef and pork sausages or rissoles or even barbecued chicken. The possibilities are endless, especially considering that fact that offal is by no means forgotten.

Popular in English and South American mixed grills are all time favorite lamb kidneys while the Meurav Yarushlmi doesn't go without chicken hearts, livers or lamb spleens.

While the mixed grill can often be interpreted as a gleaming pile of grease and fat, the Italian version is an altogether different story with choice cuts often marinated in olive oil, garlic, lemon and rosemary; something of a gourmet take on an ageless tradition.

Almost as equally important are the ever present adornments. These may include grilled tomato, egg or mushroom. In the case of chicken or mutton tikka (the South Asian rendition of the mixed grill) roti and chutney are the essential accompaniments.

While it is easy to claim how unhealthy and unnecessary such a meal- or should I say feast- really is, there is simply no denying the feelings of utter accomplishment and superiority on completion of a good ol' pub style mixed grill.