Dish 2013: Local control from start to finish

Francky Godinho has gone for elegance in his dish featuring lamb. Photo / Paul Taylor

St George's Restaurant is entering this year's Signature Dish competition with an offering featuring lamb supplied to only one other restaurant in the country and produce personally grown by its chef.

Chef and owner Francky Godinho said his Ovation All Wrapped Up dish, which has been entered in the 2013 Hawke's Bay Regional Signature Dish competition, was an "elegant" dish for the Hastings restaurant, which uses Ovation free-range New Zealand lamb.

"The inspiration was gardening, we farm our garden ourselves, fresh produce and that," he said.

"It's Hawke's Bay lamb, it's nice, it's delicate, so we have put together a dish that is nice and elegant."

The award winning chef adds: "Most of the produce is done by ourselves, picked by ourselves and we have total control of the fresh produce."

The shoulder of lamb is wrapped in prosciutto and slow cooked then served with pumpkin puree, handpicked young vegetables, blue pea and pearl barley risotto, preserved lemon butter and finished with lamb jus.