The Forager: Nu’s return, nuts and food trucks
This week’s food news includes the return of Adelaide’s favourite Thai chef, a treasured local family company to fill the gap left by Darrell Lea in the Mall, food trucks, aperitivo, and a big opening night up at Magill.
Thai food lovers rejoice – Nu is coming home
Good news has come in threes for Adelaide’s dining scene: celebrated Thai chef Nu Suandokmai is coming home after years in Sydney; he’ll be transforming the Botanic Bar restaurant menu to focus on Thai street food; and the kitchen will be open late – until the bar closes.
Nu made a big splash with Nu’s Thai on Gouger Street, and the new venture at The Botanic will be known – appropriately – as Golden Boy.
Botanic Bar, on the corner of North and East terraces, is in the midst of a transformation – the pizza kitchen is no more, and the pool room and kitchen are being turned into the new restaurant, which will also provide a small menu for the main bar.
The Botanic’s Sondra Deering tells The Forager that the restaurant will seat 55 people – and there will be a private chef’s table hidden away in the kitchen.
“The food will be along the Thai street food style – casual dining that is designed to be shared,” Deering says. “And what better cuisine to match our fabulous cocktails.”
Golden Boy is set to open at Botanic Bar at the end of September.
It appears to be exactly what the East End needs. It’s also great news that a local chef, who gathered quite a following in Sydney, is returning home.
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Treat corner
The old Darrell Lea site on the corner of Rundle Mall and King William Street is about to get a new permanent tenant – and it couldn’t be a more appropriate replacement for the beloved old chocolate shop.
Charlesworth Nuts will be moving in to the 160-year-old building soon, making the western end of Rundle Mall a nice gourmet stop, with Haigh’s a long-term occupant a few metres away on the Beehive Corner.
Like Haighs and Darrell Lea, Charlesworth is a family company – a connection that managing director, Brett Charlesworth, says attracted the nut vendor to the site.
He says the new shop will be the flagship for Charlesworth in South Australia and, like all Charlesworth stores, nuts will be roasted on site.
“I just think it’s fantastic for Rundle Mall and great for us too,” he says.
It will be a pleasure to get a chocolate fix at Haigh’s, and then wander a few steps to Charlesworth for some of their treats. The company is putting a lot of effort into the fit-out, including the option to sell directly onto the Mall (council approval pending).
It will be a very nice feeling to have a South Australian family business filling the void created by the demise of Darrell Lea as a local retailer.
Charlesworth is expected to open in the Mall by early November.
Euro style
One of Italy’s great food and wine traditions that hasn’t quite made it in Australia is the aperitivo concept.
It’s a very civilised idea – like a happy hour with food thrown in, which usually happens on a set night or two in the early evening.
You pay one (usually quite small) price for a drink and then get access to a selection of morsels.
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Tiny but classy James Place espresso bar Caparezza, wants to bring this concept to Friday nights in the city.
Caparezza’s Phil de Cesare has applied for a small bar liquor licence – a category which is seriously taking off in Adelaide – in order to establish an aperitivo tradition in his off-Mall location.
For a set price, you’ll get a drink and be able to select your choice of small bites.
It sounds like a great option for Friday after work.
Fork on the Barossa
The Fork on the Road food truck festival hits Bonython Park on Saturday from midday until 9pm – and that means you can come for lunch and stay for dinner.
The Barossa will be represented for the first time by Elli Beer – of the famous Beer family – with some fine local produce.
Don’t be fooled by the name of the truck – Beer Girls. There won’t be beer, but there will be plenty of Berkshire pork sliders and “spaghetti and meatballs” made with Saskia Beer’s Barossa chook and Wiech’s Barossa Valley egg noodles.
Old favourites will also be there – including Burger Theory, Sneaky Pickle and Chimichurri Grill – along with lots of others.
Fork on the Road is also one of the best places to sample chef Simon Bryant’s cooking (hard to overlook at food truck prices).
BYO chairs and picnic rugs.
Opening night at Magill
It’s been a long, long wait, but opening night has finally arrived for the revamped Penfolds Magill Estate Restaurant.
Executive Chef Scott Huggins is offering a five or eight course menu, matched with or without wines – but it’s hard to imagine going without at the spiritual home of arguably Australia’s greatest winery.
The wine list includes vintages of Grange spanning 1951 to 2008, as well as an extensive selection of Special Bin wines.
The interior has been revamped, with the previously rather stark room getting an injection of comfort.
The menu is likely to change regularly, but Huggins is promising locally sourced, fresh and natural ingredients. The prep will be complex, but the food won’t be complicated on the plate or palate, they say.
The five course option will cost $135 per person (food only), or $265 matched with wine. Eight courses will cost $185 per person (food only), or $435 when matched with wine.
The restaurant is open for dinner from Wednesdays to Saturdays, and for lunch on Sundays. Bookings are, of course, essential.
