Winemaker Brian Croser and wine legend Len Evans bought the derelict property in 1984 for $180,000 – then spent $2.2 million dealing with dry rot, rising damp and a century of general neglect in converting it into a multi-function space devoted to sparkling wine (initially the 1984 Croser brut), gastronomy and the arts.

Melbourne wine writer Mark Shield described the somewhat bombastic Evans saying, in his basso profundo Welsh voice: “I want this as an Elizabethan theatre, with galleries around the walls. I want a restaurant there. Do it.” And with that he stomped out, leaving Croser standing in the litter of rat and pigeon droppings with a vision splendid and a mammoth task.

Mill wheel detail. Photo: Tony Lewis

Cath Kerry set the culinary bar high from the start as the Mill’s first head chef for three years from 1984 to 1986, responsible for setting up the restaurant’s equipment and function packages. The Adelaide cooking scene was a particularly intense one at the time and Kerry was one of a group that included food luminaries such as Cheong Liew, Tim Pak Poy, Chris Manfield, Philip Searle and Janet Jeffs.

One of Kerry’s chefs at the time, Scott Minervini, recalls the luxury of using Beluga caviar, of putting pieces of squab breast at the bottom of soups. He called it “capitalist cuisine”; Kerry referred to it as “refined extravagance”.

Kerry was succeeded by the extraordinarily talented Libby Tinsley, who never achieved the acclaim she was due but who won hearts and souls with dishes such as oyster tart with lemon beurre blanc or fish pudding cooked in a banana leaf.

The mill wheel is an historic water feature. Photo: Tony Lewis

In 1997, Croser managed to recruit one of South Australia’s best-known chefs, Le Tu Thai, following the sale of Nediz Tu, which he owned with his wife Kate Sparrow. Initially Le featured some of his classic Nediz Tu dishes, such as drunken Barossa chicken with jellyfish, or steamed duck liver custard, but soon his dishes gained even more complexity, such as his seared duck breast with duck leg wrapped in bean curd skin, duck foie gras, pickled red cabbage, enoki and sesame oil dressing.

Le stayed for 13 years during which he built the Mill into an internationally regarded food and wine destination. During this time, however, in 2002, Croser sold Petaluma and the restaurant to Lion Nathan, and that set in motion a period of change; not exactly of decline, but the sort of change that occurs when a business is no longer run by a passionate entrepreneur but a body corporate. It was the passion that was missing – not in the kitchen, but in the business as a whole.

And that’s the point of this prologue: the passion has returned, with the Mill now added to the ever-expanding wine empire of wine entrepreneur Warren Randall, whose love of iconic old properties clearly didn’t stop with his earlier acquisition of Seppeltsfield.

“As I get older I appreciate these properties more and more; I love their heritage and provenance,” says Randall, whose wife Nicolla has taken charge of a complete overhaul of the Mill’s renovation following Petaluma’s relocation to its new Woodside winery last year.

The Bridgewater Mill deck. Photo: Tony Lewis

Plans have been drawn up by architect Max Pritchard – who also designed the $3 million cellar-door renovations at Seppeltsfield, with Fino restaurant as its centrepiece – which will see the famed deck area expanded to three levels, doubling its capacity for alfresco dining. Although this was quickly approved by heritage authorities and the National Trust, council approval took the best part of a year, meaning construction work is now expected to start in April.

The existing deck will be expanded, connecting with a smaller mezzanine deck below it and a ground-level deck providing a pit stop for Heysen Trail walkers or visitors to the Cox’s Creek reservation. A new kitchen will be built deeper in the main building to cope with a total of 120 seats on the decks, plus a similar number inside.

That could be change enough, but what has really altered is the attitude of the place. Nicolla Randall would have got on well with Len Evans, sharing his “just get on and do it” approach. Opening hours have been expanded and are much more flexible, and people are welcome to drop in for a coffee or glass of wine, to share a platter or settle in to enjoy head chef Zac Ronayne’s a la carte menu.

The Bridgewater Mill’s gardens provide a local source of seasonal produce. Photo: Tony Lewis

The central Granary room, the former Petaluma cellar door, is open daily as a casual dining area – now named the Wine Lounge – where customers can order generous shared platters such as the Miller’s Lunch or just a glass of wine while enjoying good music and a wood fire while seated on comfy lounges or at a vast central table.

In cooler weather, diners have the option of eating indoors in the slate-floored conservatory with linen-clad tables, but on a fine day dining alfresco on the deck (or decks) is unbeatable for sheer bucolic, if not gastronomic, pleasure

Ronayne took up the head chef position in early 2011, which was more of a homecoming as he had held the sous chef position from 2004-2007 under Le Tu Thai before heading off on a round-Australia journey of discovery, cooking from Margaret River to Queensland’s Palm Cove.

Ronayne grew up in the Hills and knows the region well, which probably explains why he’s keen to make the Mill feel much more accessible to the locals. At the same time, the undeniable quality of his cooking shows he’s not prepared to lower the bar set by previous chefs such as Kerry, Tinsley and Le Tu Thai.

He has the added advantage of sourcing much of his organic produce from the Randalls’ 1ha home garden in nearby Aldgate and a smaller, more secluded, vegetable garden behind the Mill – both overseen by horticultural student Hannah Jones, who you might also find waiting on tables. Her February list includes all the summer veggies, from basil to zucchini, and fresh herbs such as chives and sorrel.

Ronayne provides a small menu – four entrees, four mains, each including one non-meat dish – but it’s full of interest with dishes such as spiced grilled quail ($24): three small pieces on a bed of rich carrot puree, with shavings of salty, chewy jamon, shards of yellow and purple heritage carrot, morsels of caramelised ginger and a few croutons to add some crunch. It’s a real adventure plate.

By comparison, the citrus-cured ocean trout ($22) is a simpler dish: four fat quince-pink slices with crunchy, puffy potato chips and a scattering of double-peeled baby broad beans with snow peas and mint – as summery a dish as the day we visited this week.

Citrus-cured ocean trout with mustard seed and mint. Photo: Tony Lewis

Given that the Hills are now alive with roaming feral venison, there’s no excuse for this meat not being on every menu, though Ronayne gets his from a much more reputable source. It sure tastes like he does: two thick fillets of Hahndorf venison (pictured top; $39), ruby-red inside, seared outside, a gorgeous meat that matches well with roast beetroot, red and yellow, with a mound of yoghurt scattered with sumac to ease the richness of flavour. A very pretty, colourful dish as well.

Roasted pork loin with black pudding, walnut, fennel and mustard. Photo: Tony Lewis

The roasted pork loin ($37) is a single pork chop – not the monster kassler chop you’ll find in Flinders Street’s German Club, but still 5cm thick, much prettier and as tender and moist as a pork chop can be. Again there’s Ronayne’s carefully considered balance of flavour, colour and texture with a rectangle of deep rich black pudding topped with crunchy walnut and potato crumb and fennel flowers, with some bright mustard mayonnaise on the side.

Chocolate and cherry sorbet with coconut, dried cherries and dark chocolate. Photo: Tony Lewis

The three desserts on offer include chocolate and cherry sorbet, a sort of ying and yang construction with contrasting but very complementary flavours, served with shredded coconut, dried cherries and decorated with pretty blue borage flowers.

Adding to the good news is that for the first time in its history, the Mill is now open for dinner Friday and Saturday nights.

Bridgewater Mill
389 Mount Barker Road, Bridgewater, 8339 3422
Open for lunch Wednesday to Monday, and dinner Friday and Saturday.