Local beer rules at Two Before Ten's new gastropub in Denman Prospect

With more than a dozen venues across Canberra, one wonders if Canberra hospitality giant Two Before Ten could possibly have any more tricks up its sleeve.

It turns out they do, and it’s a new gastropub located at the Denman Village Shops in Denman Prospect called The Denman Kitchen + Wine Bar.

With the soft launch wrapping up, The Denman invited me to try their menu and what promised to be a nose-to-tail dining experience.

Located in the former home of local pub Honeysuckle, The Denman is a new style of venture for Two Before Ten, a departure from their suburban cafes, coffee shops and Aranda restaurant 10 Yards.

Greeted by Andy Lowe, the bar manager and evidently an experienced hospitality veteran, my request for beer recommendations to suit my relatively new curiosity for beer drinking was met with enthusiasm. Andy stepped us through a range of seven beers on tap, all of which are supplied by local Canberra brewery Kingston Brewing Company. He immediately identified the beer my uninitiated palette would prefer, and he was bang on: a mid-strength, easy-drinking beer called Lite Rale.

“Jason from Kingston Brewing Company tailors our beer selection to suit our menu and customers,” Andy explains.

“The DB you see on tap came about due to a popular request from the locals for a beer of a similar name. His play on it hits the flavour profiles most requested by the local clientele.”

Andy takes the opportunity to tell us about the local wine list, which has five impressive pages of all local wines.

“The furthest we go out is Yass,” Andy informs us.

Beers in hand and thoroughly welcomed by Andy, we perused the menu looking for the sustainable, nose-to-tail dishes promised by the website.

Hailing Andy for the benefit of his knowledge, he informed us that while none of the dishes featured on this particular night were of the whole beast, nose-to-tail variety, on Monday nights, the chefs deliver a special called the Pantry Challenge, where their sustainable chops are put to the test.

Currently offering primarily prime cuts such as beef eye fillet and duck leg along with a number of vegetarian and pescatarian dishes, including market fish, the menu is well balanced between pub classics like schnitzels, parmies and burgers and more refined dishes such as house-made gnocchi with assorted wild mushrooms, sage, pecorino, truffle oil and lemon zest or the chorizo scotch egg with black garlic aioli.

The aforementioned dishes both lived up to the desire of The Denman to offer “more than just pub food”.

The gnocchi was pillowy, soft, and nicely pan-fried with none of the claggy texture often found in gnocchi, and the unexpected switch up of chorizo brought a depth of flavour to the scotch egg.

The highlight of the meal was the starter dish of wild mushrooms with tarragon, labneh and hazelnuts. With a selection of at least five varieties of beautifully sauteed mushrooms, including king oyster mushrooms and shimeji mushrooms, along with a thick and creamy labneh and earthy, crunchy hazelnuts, it all came together as a well-formed dish that had me regretting the offer to share the dish with my dining partner.

Despite being relatively full, Andy convinced us to try dessert with the offering of a bolder beer pairing that he suspected might be an approachable stretch for my palette.

He returned with the dark chocolate and sea salt tart served with caramelised white chocolate and toffee ice cream and two London Porter beers. Ever the professional, Andy had nailed the pairing and elevated the relatively simple tart to another realm with the rich dark beer.

Wrapping up the meal, I was surprised to look around and see so many young families dining. The kids menu featuring bolognese, nuggets and fish fingers was hitting the right note with the littler ones.

Co-owner of Two Before Ten, Chris Dennis, has high hopes for The Denman and the community atmosphere it will bring to the establishing suburb of Denman Prospect.

“We plan to be at Denman for the long haul. The suburb still has a few years until it’s completed, and the Denman Village, where we’re located, will be the centre of the suburb. We want the Denman Kitchen to be like our store at Aranda, a community hub where everyone in the suburb feels at home and has their own special relationship with the venue and the staff. At Aranda, we often joke that the locals own the place, not us. I hope Denman will be the same.”

The Denman Kitchen + Wine Bar is located at 1 Felstead Vista. It’s open Sunday to Wednesday from 12 pm until 9 pm, and Thursday to Saturday from 12 pm to 10 pm.

Sunday to Thursday nights are home to weekly specials. These and the full menu can be found on The Denman website.