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Lunch review: Salopian Inn

Mar 13, 2015
Vietnamese pancake with spiced tofu. Photo Angela Lisman

Vietnamese pancake with spiced tofu. Photo Angela Lisman

It’s been almost two years since the beer lines were cleared out and the Salopian Inn was restored to the business of gastronomy – and as one of the region’s first monuments to local food and wine, it’s looking better than ever.

The historic 1850s inn – located on the corner of a crossroad halfway between McLaren Vale and Willunga, with its enormous slate flag floors and tiny picture windows that frame the most exquisite vineyard views – has been made over by Adelaide designers Peter Coombs (PCD eyewear) and Claire Kneebone (Press, Udaberri).

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Salopian Inn interior. Photo Angela Lisman

The original front door is now a tabletop and the freshly painted walls are hung with contemporary art. The floors are scattered with Persian rugs and people sit casually, happily, eating and drinking at an assortment of mismatched tables and chairs, just as they have for most of the past 30 years.

In fact, the Salopian probably remains true to the vision and philosophy of its originator, Fleurieu legend Zannie Flanagan, who in the 1980s renovated the 100-year-old ruin with her husband Kerry, installing chef Russell Jeavons behind the stoves to feed both the local winemakers and visiting wine tourists, turning it into a flagship for the region’s food and wine.

The difference is that now the kitchen is an open one where you can hear the clatter of pans and watch the all-female kitchen staff (bar one new male recruit) at work. It also has a new bar (to house almost 200 varieties of gin) made from recycled larch timbers from an old bowling alley.

Salopian Inn saucepans

A view of the open kitchen. Photo Angela Lisman

The current custodians – chef Karena Armstrong (Lake House, Billy Kwong, Icebergs), her gin-specialist husband Michael Armstrong, and winemaker couple Elena and Zar Brooks (Dandelion, Cien y Pico, Heirloom Vineyards) – have obviously brought with them much experience (and gin), re-establishing the Salopian among the Fleurieu’s top five restaurants.

Salopian Inn gin

Some of the gin collection. Photo Angela Lisman

The Salopian today is the sum of all those parts and that means Armstrong’s food is simple, generous, produce-driven and accented with flavours which reflect her time working with Kylie Kwong and her recent travels through southern India. Armstrong and one of her waiting staff, Maddie, who is also a horticulturalist, cultivate almost an acre of kitchen gardens at the restaurant and at Armstrong’s home nearby. The produce from these gardens provides 60 to 80 per cent of the kitchen’s requirements and dictates much of the restaurant’s seasonal menus.

We started with a gin aperitif. With so much choice behind the bar, the menu offers a selection of three or four gin cocktails, which changes regularly. On the list when InDaily visited there was a Sipsmith sloe gin from Western Australia, which was mixed with orange zest and a bottle of Fentiman’s fermented ginger from Victoria on the side. This was sweet, fruity, intense and aromatic, rather like a Campari. The other gin we tried was a Martin Millar’s Westbourne Strength Dry Gin (made in England) mixed with The Volstead Act Company Bitter Orange Tonic Syrup (from California), soda water, grapefruit zest and fresh rosemary. This wasn’t at all sweet, just light, fragrant and refreshing, with a perfect burn of gin.

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Chinese 5 Spice duck. Photo Angela Lisman

Favourite dish: Chinese 5-spice free-range duck with local white peaches (when available; orange has been used in the dish pictured above), star anise sauce, Chinese greens, and steamed sesame and coriander buns ($65). Half a duck is a lot for one person, so this is really a dish to share. Armstrong sources pasture-fed ducks from a Riverland producer, and her bread-making skills (evidenced by her sourdough bread, pork buns and the coriander buns served with this duck dish) are exceptional.

As a side we had the grilled zucchini, spiced flattened rice with yoghurt and salad greens ($12), which was a refreshing accompaniment to the intense flavours of the duck.  Flattened rice is also known as poha and is available from Indian grocers.

Salopian Inn pork buns

Berkshire pork buns. Photo Angela Lisman

Other dishes: For $65 you can let the kitchen feed you from the tasting menu and you will be assured of experiencing some of Armstrong’s classic dishes. These include dishes such as fragrant house-made Lauke Flour sourdough bread with a firm crumb and a chewy crust served with Paris Creek Bio-Dynamic butter; Sweetcorn, ginger and spring onion soup, steamed prawn dumplings ($20) made with local seafood, kitchen garden herbs and a firm skin; Market fish (it was kingfish when InDaily visited) sashimi with miso dressing, slices of fresh Langhorne Creek horseradish and an heirloom cucumber salad ($20); Steamed Berkshire pork buns (not a trace of red food colouring) and a home-style chilli sauce with a piquancy that depends on the intensity of the master stock on the day ($10), and a crunchy Vietnamese pancake with tender spiced tofu, green beans, almonds and grated fresh coconut (pictured at top; $20).

Salopian Inn cellar

The Salopian Inn cellar. Photo Angela Lisman

Something to drink: To make it easy and offer something the house food and wine experts are enjoying themselves, the wine list presents a choice of four or five “different and exciting whites” and “discovery reds”, both local and imported. We tried a Valdesil Godello from Valdeorras in Spain (a fresh and easy-to-drink wine with mineral character) and an Ophalum Albarino from Rias Biaxas in Spain (a “playful” wine with pear and citrus notes.)

A trip down the stairs into the cellar reveals many more local and foreign bottles with age and importance. To go with the duck, we chose a Marengo Dolcetto d’Alba, a floral and lively red wine from Piedmont in Italy.

Salopian Inn ice cream sandwich2

Salted caramel and chocolate ice cream sandwich. Photo supplied

Something sweet: A dish that Armstrong isn’t allowed to remove from the menu is the salted caramel, chocolate and vanilla ice cream sandwich with almond praline ($15). This is no Eskimo Pie – tempered bittersweet chocolate and salted caramel sauce are layered over chocolate sponge with an orange vanilla parfait sandwiched in between and crumbled honeycomb over the top. You won’t want to, but this dish is generous enough to share.

Apparently the Victorians sipped sloe gin as a digestif …

Salopian Inn
Open for lunch every day and dinner Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Corner of Main and McMurtrie Roads, McLaren Vale. Ph 8323 87692.

 

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