A little upmarket, decidedly sophisticated, Temporada hits the mark

Wheat berry and pea risotto with globe artichoke and goat's cheese. Well, that about sums up Temporada. Up-to-date, ingredient conscious, tuned in to taste and texture. I mean, wheat berries and globe artichokes! They're not just excellently chewy and textural in the case of the former and such a pronounced and unmistakable flavour in the case of the latter, they're both so grandma's kitchen, so untouched and immediate and definitively grown somewhere.

This is the hallmark of Ben Willis, the search for unprocessed ingredients, for extraordinary and old-fashioned ingredients and unusual garden flavours. We really like this "risotto" ($28) which is not so much a risotto as a loose salad like mix of chewy, resistant whole wheat, with peas, goat's cheese, and the taste of pesto and mint, giving a fresh, green, spring taste, and the funky addition of an earthy, deep-fried length of globe artichoke.

Temporada in the city is Willis's fun venue, the place where he can turn up the music and the energy and not get too fussy on the plate; at Aubergine in Griffith things get more serious. Temporada is a Spanish name, plenty of Spanish wines, and a Spanish focus on the grill, from whence comes the octopus ($24). The long legs are charred with perhaps excessive enthusiasm, blackened, tender, and served with sharp black vinegar, chilli oil and aioli and pickled cabbage.

The feel is really on the mark. Plenty of noise and activity, wide floorboards, lovely dark Spanish-feel tiles on the floor, random undressed planks of wood on the walls, lovely bulb lights hanging along the wide of the room, gold paint inside big lightshades, a bar taking up much of the space, with seats at the bar as well, and lovely big cloth napkins.

It's a short menu, with good one-hand food on offer as well. The pork belly roll ($10) is a little burger, neat, with its slices of dark caramelised pork belly, simple pickles, mayo and plenty of heat. These kinds of starters are everywhere now, but are rarely done as well.

The cheese toastie ($10) is a soldier-shaped toasted sandwich, generous with truffle and melty cheese, crisp but a bit oily, with the truffle almost drowned out by the heat.

Parsnip ravioli with apple, brown butter and pain d'epices ($26) is a highlight. I'm confused about the offer of "pain d'epices, since I can't see it on the plate, but there are lovely parsnip chips, super-thin slices of green apple and fantastic ravioli. We really like this dish.

Grilled Spanish mackerel with black barley, pinenuts and bonito dashi ($38) is a substantial dish, not only in serving size, but also in sheer richness, and we're a bit snookered by how much we've eaten by this stage. The mackerel is delicately cooked, with mounds of fried kale, loads of salt, and the richness of the fish, which is too much for us.

Nevertheless, it's time for dessert and at a Ben Willis restaurant dessert is always something to tackle. He seems to have an aversion for sweet stuff so offers challenging desserts that make you smile. Tonight, it's a study in banana ($16) – slices of caramelised banana with praline, and an uncompromising banana mousse tasting entirely of banana, with a dark chocolate sauce underneath and a kind of cereal sprinkled on top.

Black sesame and white chocolate custard ($16) is equally uncompromising, with blobs of astringent yuzu, a dark syrup and chunks of bright grapefruit.

The wine list is excellent, heading for reasonably priced and lesser known wines from Spain, Europe more widely, and North America.

Temporada is busy early to late with a coffee trade starting the day. Unusually, it makes a success of being excellent, a little bit upmarket, decidedly sophisticated but determinedly relaxed at the same time. A venue you wouldn't hesitate to recommend.