Today, the return of one of Adelaide’s best chefs as a new restaurant precinct in the city slowly emerges, oysters, floating food and tunes, and more.

Back to the future for Bethany

For 11 years, chefs Bethany Finn and Spencer Cole kept their Rose Park restaurant, Urban Bistro, near the top of any list of Adelaide’s best dining experiences.

But the exacting, and physically and financially demanding, work of running a fine-dining restaurant became too much. After trying hard to sell the business, the couple decided in late 2012 to shut up shop, to the dismay of the bistro’s regular customers.

Bethany Finn

After some low-profile gigs, Finn – who was the Hilton’s executive chef 14 years ago in the glory days of Cheong Liew and the Grange – is making a return to Adelaide’s dining scene, overseeing the kitchens at the Mayfair Hotel.

The Mayfair is due to open later this year in the beautiful Colonial Mutual Life building on the corner of King William and Hindley streets. With Jamie’s Italian set to open one block down, and Peel Street’s restaurants kicking goals, it looks like this once-barren part of town could become a dining destination again.

Finn says while the bistro’s closure was painful – including financially – the decade at the top had come at a personal cost.

“We hadn’t had more than 10 days off a year for 11 years,” she says. “After two weeks, I realised my legs had stopped aching – I hadn’t realised how tired I had been.”

Cole and Finn also discovered the new pleasure of sitting down to eat with 14-year-old son Harrison, who had been a baby when Urban opened and had rarely experienced both parents at home together for an evening meal.

As for the 170-room Mayfair, Finn says there will be a ground-floor cafe, a restaurant and a banquet space for functions.

The final concepts are still under wraps, but Finn says the food will go well beyond the regular hotel offerings. She wants the Mayfair to become a dining destination in its own right.

“Absolutely,” she said. “I want to bring restaurant flair to a hotel. We’re not part of a chain so we can be creative and do something a bit special that’s not out of the standard formula.”

She’s also enjoying reconnecting with cherished suppliers from Urban Bistro days, as she readies for opening.

And Finn isn’t worried about competition from Jamie’s Italian, nor the Peel/Leigh street operators.

“Not at all. If anything, it will become a new food precinct.”

An artist’s impression of the new Mayfair Hotel.

Native oysters make a comeback

One of the interesting stories coming out of this week’s World Aquaculture Conference in Adelaide is the comeback of South Australia’s native oysters.

The Ostrea angasi has been a rare treat after early over-fishing all but destroyed local supplies. In Coffin Bay, for example, the oyster industry had been based on naturally reproducing native oysters, but they were all but gone by the mid-20th century.

Farming the slow-growing native oyster proved difficult, leading to the introduction of the Pacific Oyster, which now dominates production in all of South Australia’s commercial oyster farms.

This week, the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) announced that local oyster producers had this month snapped up the latest batch of more the one million native oyster spat produced by the research body.

SARDI says there’s rising demand for the oyster from high-end restaurants and other niche markets.

More than three million native oyster spat have been produced at the SARDI hatchery over the past three years. While they are of a similar size to the Pacific oyster, the native variety can fetch twice the price.

SARDI’s Profssor Xiaoxu Li says a growing appetite for South Australian seafood paves the way for the return of the native oyster.

“It is also a smart step forward for oyster growers who want to diversify and expand their business,” Li said.

Gleaming, fresh South Australian oysters.

Floating melodies

We’ve just caught up with the “Floating Melodies” series – concerts held on board Popeye on the Torrens with, of course, accompanying food and wine.

This Saturday’s edition – dubbed “Wintry Vixens” – features music by Fiona DeLaine and Shelley Crooks and wine from Fox Creek.

Stirling chocolatier Red Cacao is also providing chocolate slabs, including a mixed-berry popping-candy white slab, a café-late milk slab, and a hazelnut, ginger and apricot dark slab.

Oh, and there will also be cheese.

Booking and details here.

Grill’d

As noted in The Forager last week, interstate burger chain Grill’d is opening in Adelaide.

The outlet, on the corner of The Parade and George Street, will open on Saturday.

I don’t want to cause a panic or anything, but check out the Grill’d Facebook page – they’re offering free burgers on Friday during specific hours.

Queue uni student stampede!