In 1911, the Australian government launched an international competition for the design of a new capital. From Chicago, Walter Burley Griffin submitted designs drawn by his wife, Marion Mahony Griffin, and beat 136 other entrants to win the competition.
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Although it's a little unfair to review a new venue in just their second week of opening, if you build it, as the Griffins discovered, they will come.
Arriving at The Marion, we are greeted warmly by the sharply dressed, smiling face of maitre'd Thomas Rimbaud, who is well known for his charm and good humour as one of Canberra's best hospitality managers.
The restaurant and the view look like a million bucks. The staff wear double-breasted, cream-coloured waist coats with black neckties and their black shoes are polished. They certainly look ready for us, as Thomas guides us through to the terrace on an overcast Wednesday lunchtime and we slide into a very ergonomic chair and pull ourselves under the pristine white table cloth.
Possibly aided by the fact that Canberra has never been greener, the room has a very European feel and we could easily be in Zurich or Vienna. The Marion has towering windows that would make Frank Lloyd Wright jealous and followers of American architectural history will observe the irony here.
Long before their relationship soured, Marion was Lloyd Wright's first employee but she later joined forces with Walter and without her, the city that we love most likely would not bear the Griffin name and would look completely different. Talk about a sliding door moment.
With the iconic landmarks of Canberra set firmly in the foreground, we quickly settle on the three-course set menu for $75 per person. With a choice of four entrees, four mains and four desserts, I suspect head chef Matt Ouwerkerk is looking to keep it simple and nail every dish. Which he pretty much does nail, hammer and tongs.
I'm still not sure if I should keep my sunglasses on or take them off, when my cauliflower and gruyere cheese custard tart with a salad of spring leaf and black garlic dressing floats to the table. It's a spectacular start and the melted gruyère coats the perfectly bronzed cauliflower, wrapped in picture perfect, slightly caramelised pastry. This is cauliflower and cheese but not how your mother used to make it.
Smoked fillet of beef tonnato, crispy capers and finger lime, rocket, shaved aged parmesan comes perfectly balanced on a base of what tastes like anchovy cream and has all the hallmarks of a timeless entrée.
How can this team get this so right, so early in the life of this brand spanking new venue? I think the answer is this is not their first rodeo. Grand Pacific Group have taken the reigns for this project, and despite a variable history of interstate hospitality owners not always getting it right in Canberra, the plans suggest that these guys will knock it out of the (Commonwealth) park.
The wine list will expand in the coming weeks but the eye for quality is already evident. My glass of viogner-roussanne from Chateau Saint Maurice ($17) is vibrant, clean and bright, like the national institutions that sit so perfectly in front of us. My companion jokes that if the wind changes, the Captain Cook jet may well give us a bath, but I suspect the team here have already thought of a contingency plan for that.
On the next table, an emeritus professor is celebrating his 102nd birthday with five close friends and they chat comfortably. The noise control, along with the lighting and comfort has been designed by a team who really know their craft.
Similarly with the farmer who grew the Aquna Murray cod that I'm about to eat with cauliflower cream, browned almond and caper butter sauce, and crisp chili kale. This fish is pond-grown in the Riverina, in a sustainable environment which produces a lovely fillet, in this case, seasoned well and with a "pork crackling" like crunch to the fish skin.
Roast assiette of Muscovy duck, braised lentils de Puy, beetroot and black garlic, macadamia crumb is rich with rustic notes and is a safe and very well executed dish. One component of duck is sous vide to a delightfully firm, but succulent texture, and the other appears to be confit and then pressed into a state of deliciousness.
The small floor team work seamlessly; smiles are genuine, the beverage labels face the customer, side dishes come in sync with the main courses and they work together in harmony. Every Walter needs a Marion and vice versa.
Dessert is lemon and lavender herb creme brulee with langues de chat biscuit, and a pear and gingerbread crumble with cheesecake ice cream.
The "form follows function" principles also apply to the brulee in its shallow dish, which allows every bite of custard to be the correct ratio to the glass-like toffee on top.
The crumble is from the modernist school, with a fine assemblage of grilled bosc pear slices structurally supporting the ice cream, with teardrop nodes of crunchy meringue loosely assembled on top.
Although only serving lunch and high tea at this stage (with a solid book of functions in the evening), The Marion is off to a sensational start. And like Mahoney Griffin herself, it looks like they are going to play the long game and make a high-quality, permanent mark on this city.
The Marion
Address: Barrine Drive, Regatta Point, Parkes
Phone: 72527711
Website: themarion.com.au
Hours: Lunch, Monday to Friday, from noon til 3pm. High tea, seven days, from 10am til 4pm.
Chef: Matthew Ouwerkerk
Dietary: A few options
Noise: Very well controlled
