Faint promises abound in the food world. Restaurants use words like local and heritage without much thought to their true meaning; links between chefs and farmers are often hailed, but scratching the surface you find little knowledge as to the producers, their methods and even basic provenance.

I’ve queried heritage chicken on menus to find it’s nothing more than a mass-produced Ross bird (no different to a supermarket chook); I’ve had a chef whose concept was all about the farmers only be able to tell me his beef came from the abattoir; I’ve had farmers tell me of the chefs who buy their product once and trade on their name for months after.

At the very least it’s lazy, at worst a shoddy deception. You could say that our expectation as diners for the highest standards at the lowest prices is what drives this, but it’s all a matter of integrity. This is why Glenarty Road and its ilk have such allure. In a world of phony paddock to plate, this is the real deal.

Ben McDonald is the third generation of his family to farm in Karridale, 25 minutes south of Margaret River. Young McDonald, if you will, is moving sheep as we arrive. The rough car-park-come-farm-yard is dotted with clusters of corn, the vines that McDonald planted 20 years ago stretch out, and you’re struck by the compact restaurant and cellar door – a renovated packing shed, with a surfboard in the rafters, dried hops (from the property) hanging, a back wall full of farm-grown produce to take away, and long shared tables that add to the atmosphere of conviviality. It’s not some vanity project built with big money, more a family concern that offers valuable diversification; it is, above all, authentic.

Sasha McDonald, Ben’s wife, works the bar, pouring group tastings and talking laid-back patrons through her wines. A winemaker with form in the region, she’s excelling, from a surprising savagnin (a variety mostly grown in the Jura region of France) to a shiraz made in amphora.

A one-page menu is another reason of many to fall head over heels for Glenarty Road. Chef Ricky Mandozzi is trading on his location as much as his experience and his heritage.  

Cannellini bean and roast garlic dip, a punchy entrée with rosemary oil and topped with crisp fried garlic, induces a no-holds-barred scramble to claim the last piece of excellent flatbread. Not even the simple kids’ pasta is safe; a fresh housemade sauce, packed with vegies, it takes the eye of adults, forks hovering like vultures, leaving the kid at the table to stand his ground.

In sight of the paddock, a fire-roasted rack of lamb from the outdoor barbecue is the go-to, but sold out. We fall back on excellent lamb ribs, with a sharp chilli and mint salsa.

Pork collar from chefs’ favourite Jindong Free Range is presented with marinated carrots, green beans and farm mustard. It’s simple, even restrained cooking, but beautifully done. The point here is that great ingredients, fresh and well sourced, are much of the job done. That’s no disrespect to Mandozzi; in fact it is the sign of a good chef, unencumbered by ego.

The lamb is all from the farm, as is around 40 per cent of the produce. Mandozzi tells me that they expect that to increase, but they’re also drawing from producers like Jo Wren of Patchwork Farm and Leeuwin Grass-Fed Beef, both just kilometres away. The chicken (as well as ducks, quail and offal) is from Wagin, a little further afield.

There’s a pleasant cauliflower salad, a riff on a Waldorf, with almond and tahini; a standout salad of heirloom tomatoes with sheep’s curd and buckwheat: sweet, fragrant, it’s a generous taste of summer. Rice pudding, that most simple of nursery dishes, is elevated with farm figs, berries and fennel fronds.

Interviewing Ben and Sasha McDonald a few years ago, they told me of the plans they had. I hoped that the dream would become the reality, not just because I want to see doers do well, but because we need places that show what is possible. Not every restaurant needs to be on a farm, nor do they need to grow their own vegies, but they do need an essential ingredient: integrity.

Glenarty Road
70 Glenarty Road, Karridale, WA 6288
http://www.glenartyroad.com.au/