We had Gary (Patto) Patterson in the kitchen today assisted by Graham Gardiner. Gary is clearly a believer in providing super fresh food for the society and as such, turned up with many raw ingredients, with the bulk of the work to be done at Rex. It was a learning experience for Graham in second time assisting.

Canapés. We had two canapés both based on puff pastry. Both were made freshly just before being placed in the oven. The first was feta cheese, parmesan with spinach and the other was based on feta cheese triangles. Both of them much loved with only crumbs left. The pastry was beautifully cooked and finished with egg white to get the desired baked look.

Aperitif wine. The aperitif wine was Domaine de la Pepiere Muscadet 2013. Muscadet is a wine on the up and up throughout the wine world. It is made from Melon de Bourgogne and is fresh, dry but still fruity. Typically, it divides consumers and today was no different. I thought a beaut wine to cut through the oil of the pastry.

Main course. On the main being tabled the first thing that stood out with the variety of colour on the plate. Red “lolly” tomatoes, yellow squash, mushroom and yellow rice. The main event, roasted pork loin, was served on potato mash with a beautifully crisp and consistent pork crackling. The pork was correctly pink in the middle and besides comments about the squash being a little undercooked this was a very good main.

The wines. In the absence of our Winemaster James Tinslay presented the wines.

• Allegrini La Grola Veronese 2010 (cork, 13.5%)
• Blue Pyrenees Estate Cabernet 2009 (screwcap, 14%)
• Gibson The Dirtman Shiraz 2012 (cork, 14.5%)
• Tyrells Rufus Stone Heathcote Shiraz 2002 (cork, 14.9%)

I love contrasting wines styles and as we have become to expect this was another. The Allegrini being an IGT was of Valpolicella style wine except a blend of Corvina and Syrah. Rich but dry and the appellation showed through. The Blue Pyrenees wine had fruity up front Cabernet evident and drying tannins but was a little one-dimensional in terms of fading length and just upfront fruit.

Of the second group Gibson Shiraz was clearly the winner in my opinion. Despite being Barossa it was elegant and at 5 years of age had a wonderful intensity of fruit without being over sweet. The Heathcote wine on the other hand had stewed older style Australian fruit and was not that enjoyable. This view was shared by most throughout the room.

Cheese and coffee. The Taleggio cheese served by James Healey was a cracker. It came from Mauri in Lombardi and was of course pasteurised cow’s milk. Apparently, the ageing of these cheeses is a skill which leads to a mild and delicate melting, creamy cheese which is very aromatic. Some may say stinky.

Spencer Ferrier made good his threat from the week before by adding some Apko Gayo (just 10%) with the Colombian Guayata that was served the previous week. Like adding Viognier with Shiraz, the Apko Gayo influenced the base coffee remarkably. As Spencer was absent a show of hands was asked for those who had been there both weeks and certainly Spencer’s effort to blend the beans was a success.

Gary finished the lunch by thanking Graham for his perseverance with the “let’s prepare everything from scratch” approach and not forgetting Pete the REX chef who saved Gary’s bacon by noticing many kilograms of potatoes languishing in the corner all but forgotten just prior to service.

An enjoyable lunch.