Presenting Terra, a new canteen-style, produce-driven food destination in Canberra’s CBD. Set amongst a growing collective of food and lifestyle venues on No Name Lane, Terra offers an ever-changing breakfast that features straight-off-the-spit smoked and charcoal meats, gourmet lunch rolls, seasonal roasted vegetables, fresh salads and juices, healthy breakfast options, and Duke’s specialty coffee.
Terra is a new concept venue owned and operated by brothers, Anthony and Marcus Iannelli of The Food Forum, Canberra’s locally owned and family run purveyor of quality fresh food, and Sung Son (ex-Hartsyard (Sydney) sous chef). Having spent their younger years growing up on a farm and working in a fruit shop, the brothers later opened The Food Forum, a fresh produce shop and butchery that also supplies top-quality produce to the best restaurants around Canberra. Seeing a break into the restaurant industry as the natural progression, the brothers approached long-time customer Sung Son to come on board as a co-owner and head chef, and together they have combined their shared passion for using local, seasonal produce to create a menu that features inspiring and innovative dishes.
The Terra menu is full and varied, and will change as much as daily depending on the best possible produce that can be sourced. Terra’s unique point of difference is the immediate access to the finest quality seasonal produce from the best local growers and providores due to the long-standing relationships the Iannelli brothers have built through The Food Forum. This means that customers will see more on their plate for less – convenient, quality, affordable breakfast and lunch options in a relaxed environment.
Anthony Iannelli, co-owner of Terra and The Food Forum, says, “The Terra menu is a collaboration, stemming from what we enjoy eating, and would like to see more of in the Canberra food scene. It’s about utilising the produce when it’s at its best and letting the natural flavours do the talking. If it looks great at the markets, it will be on our menu.”
Head Chef Sung Son, says, “We are all foodies who love to experiment with flavours and host people for a great meal. We’ve made our own pickled vegetables, jams and chilli sauce fresh in-house and ready to serve,” says Son. “We want to create food that’s healthy enough to eat a few times a week, and delicious enough to want to.”
Terra is a light-filled canteen-style dining space complete with earthy green and raw concrete finishes, and reclaimed timber tables and bench seating reflective of the venue’s focus on natural resources. The venue’s stand out features are the three-metre custom-made charcoal spit and rotisserie that will cook a mouth-watering selection of charred meats and the four-and-a-half metre island bench displaying an abundance of fresh market produce.
For breakfast, there is a range of easy grab-and-go options displayed on the island bench and open ice bar, including freshly baked pastries and muffins, protein snacks, and unique fresh juice and smoothie combinations. Marcus Iannelli brings his strong passion for specialty coffee to the team, and after visiting many roasters, he knew that the blends and brews from Melbourne’s Dukes Speciality Roasters were most synonymous with the Terra food concept of what’s seasonally best. The barista team will experiment with different brewing techniques and extraction styles, using Dukes signature blend for milk based coffees as well as rotating seasonal single origin and filter coffees every couple of weeks.
The takeaway healthy bowls are a highlight – think a grain breakfast bowl filled with quinoa, pearl barley, kale, edamame, pepitas, and sherry; a granola bowl with yoghurt, coconut shell, fig jam, orange marmalade, currants and lemon power; and a chia and coconut pudding with banana, honeycomb, topped with a crunchy hazelnut praline.
For guests wanting a more leisurely breakfast, they can choose from the in-house a la carte menu featuring signature versions of breakfast favourites like the ‘bacon sanga’ on ciabatta bread with cheddar cheese, hash brown, house-made cucumber pickle and Terra BBQ sauce; and avocado toast on sourdough with bocconcini, crushed edamame beans and pickled green tomatoes.
