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Flint at the Vines

Kirsten Lawson

Country comfort: The large and functional dining room.
Country comfort: The large and functional dining room.Katherine Griffiths

13/20

Italian$$

The cellar-door phenomenon has taken off in Canberra in recent years as wineries seek to capitalise on their critical success by attracting weekend visitors. Many now have cellar doors and a few have full-service restaurants.

Among these restaurants in Flint in the Vines, which is located at Shaw Vineyard Estate, with its large Italianate cellar door near Murrumbateman, selling loads of elaborate bowls, platters, and jugs. I love this evocative colourful tableware; some might find it over the top, especially en masse at the cellar door, but it works for me and always reminds you of those highly decorative Italian hotel rooms. It seems a shame that this ornate style isn't translated into the restaurant, where a little Italian elaboration in the decor wouldn't go amiss.

As it is, the Flint dining area is fairly large and rather open, with less-than-attractive metal-legged tables and functional chairs, the functional impression not helped by the chairs stacked away against tables on the terrace outside. There are a couple of big wooden tables, bookshelves and wine racks, and the room is warm, but I think I prefer it in winter when there's an open fire that draws the room and you into a lovely country cosiness.

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Lamb backstrap with sweet corn puree.
Lamb backstrap with sweet corn puree.Katherine Griffiths

The restaurant is Flint in the Vines, run by Jai and Kate Dawson. One of the drawbacks of winery restaurants is they tend to offer only wine made by the winery, even when, as in this case, the restaurant is separately run. So the wine list is almost entirely Shaw wines, fine in themselves but not the kind of offering that sustains an entire dinner out, especially not among a dining crowd that is becoming increasingly sophisticated about wine. There are some non-Shaw wines in varieties they don't make - a grenache, a sangiovese, a chardonnay, a pinot noir and a viognier. All quite serviceable, but it would be good to see Flint showcasing a much wider range of local wines, especially as it's plumb in the middle of Murrumbateman wine country.

In the menu, the retro offering of wood-fired camembert ($22) is hard to resist, taking you back to those deep-fried camembert soirees of uni days. It is, though, a disappointing dish. The camembert tastes undistinguished, and surprisingly this does appear to matter even when baked. And it's not melty all the way through like you might expect. The simple apple compote, while fine in itself, is not well matched. The red wine jus is sticky and sweet. And while it's nice to see a sprig of rosemary in this cheese, it hasn't imparted its flavour. The slices of bread add little interest and would be better as toast.

Our other entree, trout brandade ($20), is in much better shape: salty, simple and bang on the country setting, served with toasty flatbreads and gherkins.

Head chef, Christian Dalla Costa, of the Flint in the Vines, Murrumbateman.
Head chef, Christian Dalla Costa, of the Flint in the Vines, Murrumbateman.Katherine Griffiths
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The menu covers every base, which is perhaps what you have to do in the country where you need to meet the needs of the locals, but it's something that never feels greatly exciting. There's roast salmon with red-curry pumpkin and coconut; roast chicken with romesco, chickpea and quinoa; ricotta and vegie pasta; lamb backstrap; pork loin with cauliflower; steak frites; fish and chips; and a whole roasted lamb shoulder.

With more time, we'd be straight into the lamb shoulder, but the menu advises a 30-minute wait for this dish, which puts us off, even though 30 minutes is pretty much the time that would naturally pass between ordering and mains if entrees were part of the equation. It's just the warning that makes us hesitate. On a return visit, I would also look to the steak frites, I think, with the aim of keeping things simple and country.

As it is, we order the lamb backstrap ($34), and it's enjoyable and well presented. The spinach that comes with the meat is too salty, but the sweet corn puree balances the salt somewhat and the sauce reduction likewise is sweet and intense. The lamb is suitably tender; underneath is the kicker, a pile of shredded lamb, adding that pungency only long-cooked meat can give.

We ordered pizza also, which doesn't suit our entree-main-dessert order, but with a woodfired pizza oven standing so handsomely in front of the kitchen, how can you not? We order the Derek ($25), a pizza of mascarpone, salami, pear, roast capsicum and chillies. The thin base is very good, with that singed woodfired-oven character that really makes a pizza; the toppings are less exciting.

It's worth pointing out here that Flint in the Vines does gluten-free pizza bases, and caters pretty comprehensively throughout the menu for the gluten intolerant.

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It also welcomes kids with a kids' menu ($12) - fish and chips, chicken schnitzel, ham and cheese pizza, and ''bolognese gratin''.

When it comes to desserts, the cheesecake ($16) is heavy and sweet, with an enjoyably gentle flavour, and served with crunchy rhubarb - which I'd prefer not crunchy.

The rice pudding ($14) is served hot. I like the toasty coconut better than the texture of the pudding, and the coconut ice-cream alongside is very rich and captures rather too much of what's rich and overwhelming about coconut rather than what's uplifting and fresh.

In sum, some dishes haven't been quite what they should be and the spring evening has lacked the mood that would come with a warm, airy summer evening overlooking the vines, or a cosy winter evening by a country fire. But our evening has been pleasant, and I always like the sense of occasion contributed by driving a distance to dinner, a marvellous sense of escapism.

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