On the evening of Sunday 11 October I enjoyed a wonderful dinner with friends at Provenance on Smith St. It was the latest of their themed dinners and the main ingredient was goat, which has become a favourite of mine. You can buy excellent goat from the Queen Victoria Market, but it’s a treat when you can enjoy it on the menu of a good restaurant. Unlike the previous mushroom dinner, there was not a single winery providing the matched wines, but the result was equally good with well chosen drinks from sponsors including Mountain Goat beer.

The goat charcuterie plate (below) was fabulous, particularly the ribs and sausage, and the offal sausage was also excellent. The goat biltong was tangy and tender and the goat’s cheese and sundried tomato spread was addictive. The new Mountain Goat organic ale went down a treat with these tasty nibbles, which included kalamata olives and roasted almonds. As one of my friends is not a beer drinker I got two!

The confit goat tart (below) was sensational and I wanted a much larger one. The Knots rose (Bendigo) it was matched with was for the me the best wine of the evening – dry but not harsh, with a delicate scent that suited the subtle flavours of the tart.

The goat ravioli (below) was tender and the broth most flavoursome, and was matched with a tart pino gris from Lamont (NZ). The shredded cabbage and biltong balanced the rich pasta and broth and the acidic wine.

The most satisfying course for me was the goat roulade featuring a liver farce (stuffing) served with crisp asparagus (below) and a fabulous fresh but mellow Amietta shiraz (Geelong) with vanilla hints.

I had assumed that every course would feature goat produce, and dessert was a goat’s milk pannacotta with a berry compote (below).

The meal was completed with excellent goat’s milk cheeses served with alternating fresh and poached pear slices, quince paste and more of the same delicious bread crisps served with the entree (below).

The 6 courses and 3 matched wines again represented excellent value and the quality was equally high. Provenance sold every seat for the previous mushroom dinner, and the positive news about that meal enabled Provenance to sell out 2 goat dinners on successive nights. Goat night has also been reviewed by Anna at Beans and Barley.

The next special event is an afternoon of summer berries, which is planned for December and may be held outside the restaurant in a summer picnic location like Edinburgh gardens. It will surely sell out quickly so I advice checking the Provenance website or joining the Provenance Facebook group to keep up to date with forthcoming events.