In this week’s column: The Stag hotel to open with a new look and a new chef, McLaren Vale combines food and wine with music, locally-made “Alpine” cheeses released, and a coffee festival for Adelaide.

The Stag’s leap of faith

The Stag hotel is set to reopen next Tuesday after a multi-million-dollar renovation and with a new chef overseeing the food.

Renowned Adelaide chef Camillo Crugnale (ex-Assaggio) will take over the stoves at the 166-year-old hotel on the corner of East Terrace and Rundle Street, bringing with him 35 years of experience.

The Stag closed its doors in March this year after being bought by Adelaide businessman Philip Speakman, hospitality veteran Chris Kenny and Melbourne hotelier Dean Grant (The Elephant & Wheelbarrow, European Bier Cafe). In seven months, it has been gutted and totally reburbished by local architects Dash.

In its new incarnation, the hotel will offer a fine-dining restaurant (The Vardon), a Champagne bar, and a new sleek marble front bar with copper-piped “brewery fresh” tank beer on tap.

Crugnale describes The Vardon (named after the historic laneway behind The Stag) as “the neo-modern style that the East End needs”.

Food with a soundtrack

Botanic Gardens Restaurant head chef Paul Baker in front of one of the garden’s cumquat trees.

Four of the state’s best chefs have taken inspiration from their favourite songs to fuse music and food for the Gorgeous Table at Penny’s Hill winery next month.

The event will return to McLaren Vale’s annual boutique music, food and wine festival, the Gorgeous Festival, which runs on the weekend of November 27 and 28.

Adding an extra dimension to the dining experience this year is the “Chef’s Playlist” menu, which will see guest chefs Paul Baker, of Botanic Gardens Restaurant; Karena Armstrong, from the Salopian Inn; Peter Reschke, of d’Arry’s Verandah, and Neil “Nelly” McGlew, of The Kitchen Door at Penny’s Hill, prepare a dish inspired by a favourite song.

McGlew will prepare a Gin and Juice themed plate in homage to Snoop Dogg; Reschke will develop a culinary experience from the Beatles’ classic Strawberry Fields Forever; Armstrong will fashion a dish motivated by Blondie’s Heart of Glass; and Baker’s dish is inspired by Tom Petty’s Learning to Fly.

While the official menu will be a surprise on the night, Baker revealed his secret dish to InDaily: “I’m matching Learning to Fly with Michelle and Phil Lally’s Savannah Chicken, because chickens struggle to fly.

“I’m butterflying whole chickens and slow-roasting them with Australian cumquats and fennel. The cumquats and fennel are grown in the Botanic Gardens.”

Baker, who became head chef at the Botanic Gardens restaurant 14 months ago after leaving Grace The Establishment, said he would be serving the chicken with sides of heritage carrots slow-cooked in buttermilk and then roasted, and a mixed grain salad of organic and biodynamic freekeh, lentils and faro with shaved Kohlrabi and sumac – “it will be very Yotam Ottolenghi”.

This year there are 350 tickets available for the Gorgeous Table event at $170 per person. More information and the full Gorgeous Festival program of music, food and wine events can be found here.

McLaren Vale Wine Show dinners

Salopian Inn dumplings. Photo: supplied

If you can’t wait until the Gorgeous Table event, you can enjoy dinner in McLaren Vale next week as chefs Karena Armstrong and Tom Boden host two separate events as part of the McLaren Vale Wine Show.

With more and more McLaren Vale Shiraz being sold into China, Armstrong will explore how some of the world’s best Shiraz sits alongside the flavours of Asian cuisine at The Brian Walsh Shiraz Dinner on Tuesday, October 20, at the Salopian Inn.

Think yum-cha-style dumplings, steamed buns and beef short ribs matched to a selection of premium wines selected by Walsh, one of the 2015 Wine Show judges, who will give insight into why the flavours marry so well.

The Grenache dinner at Maxwell’s Ellen Street Restaurant on Wednesday, October 21, will see Boden work with special guest James Halliday, who will present his favourite examples of food-friendly Grenache from around the world matched to ingredients such as Emme cheese, Lime Cave mushrooms, hand-made gnocchi and duck breast.

Bookings and more information about the dinners can be found here.

Section 28 cheese release

Section 28 Mont Priscilla.

In June this year, InDaily reported on new Adelaide Hills cheese producer Section 28’s Kym Masters and his hand-crafted semi-hard Alpine cheeses, the first time this style of cheese has been produced in South Australia.

After sufficient ageing, his Mont Priscilla and Montforte cows’ milk cheeses have just been released for retail sale at Bottega Rotolo stores and Say Cheese in the Adelaide Central Market.

The Mont Priscilla has been aged for up to 90 days and is distinguished by a line of ash running through its centre and an orange-brown rind. Masters describes its flavour as “buttery, sweet and smooth with hints of fresh hay”.

The Montforte is a more mature cheese, aged for up to nine months, with a sweet, milky and fruity flavour which becomes more buttery and creamy with roasted nut and earthy undertones as it ages.

“Both cheeses are fabulous on their own, just with a few dried muscatels and quince paste on a cheese board,” says Masters.

“But for something totally indulgent, the Mont Priscilla is awesome in a gratin Dauphinoise or with lardones as an exotic Croque Monsieur, and the Montforte is perfect in an onion or leek tart, or in an old-school soufflé.”

If matching with wine, Masters recommends an Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir, a light Syrah or Nebbiolo for the Montforte and a crisp white or a light, fresh red such as a Gamay for the Mont Priscilla.

Coffee Festival

Pork ribs with Dry Spice and Coffee Rub. Photo: supplied

The Adelaide Central Market is celebrating coffee this month with $2 coffee specials, a coffee art competition, cooking with coffee demonstrations and cupping sessions (tastings).

One of the coffee recipes the Market will share its Dry Spice and Coffee Rub for Pork Ribs: Mix 1 tbsp of finely ground coffee with 1 tbsp each of sea salt flakes, smoked paprika, crushed coriander seeds and coconut sugar and 1 tsp cracked black pepper. Rub some olive oil over 1.5 kg pork short ribs then sprinkle over the spice mix, gently rubbing in. Place ribs on a baking tray and allow to stand for 10 minutes before baking uncovered for 15 minutes at 220C. Reduce heat to 160C and continue to cook for a further 60 minutes.

See Adelaide Central Market website for Coffee Festival details.

A new nook at Nook Nosh

Check out the new courtyard at Unley Road’s little wine bar/music lounge Nook Nosh, where you can enjoy boutique wines, craft beer and delicious food that is all locally produced while listening to live acoustic music and DJs spinning vinyl.

Rosa’s Tart Cart

Starting this Friday, Lady Burra Brewhouse head chef Rosa Dantas will showcase her native Portuguese cuisine with coffee, pastries, paella and beer available from Rosa’s Tart Cart in Topham Mall. Situated directly outside Lady Burra Brewhouse, Rosa’s Tart Cart will kick off this Friday at 4.30pm; from Tuesday, October 20, Rosa’s Tart Cart will offer breakfast from 7am.

Win a magnum of Grange

Family-owned SA business Fassina Liquor is celebrating 40 years by giving away a 1.5-litre bottle of 1997 Grange Hermitage valued at $1500. For your chance to win this special bottle, visit any Fassina Liquor store or the website for competition details.

Out of the lunchbox

Hello Sarnie’s Mike Kendall-Smith and Andrew Pearce.

“Sarnie” is English slang for a plain old sandwich, but new Pirie Street breakfast and lunch bar Hello Sarnie plans to make the simple sandwich desirable again.

“Having come from working in London to working in Adelaide, I pretty quickly noticed there was nowhere I could go to just grab a fresh and quick sandwich or baguette off the shelf, to either eat back at my desk or out enjoying the Aussie weather,” says Andrew Pearce, who started Hello Sarnie with fellow UK expat Mike Kendall Smith.

“Each morning our team makes fresh all our sandwiches, salads, wraps, baguettes and breakfast offerings.

“Our food has no sell-by dates, additives or preservatives – what we don’t sell that day we will give away to charity that night.”

This week at the Adelaide Farmers’ Market – Curry leaf

The leaves of the curry leaf tree. Photo: supplied

Curry leaf is a culinary plant whose leaves are used (along with many other aromatic herbs and spices) as a component of the Indian curry seasoning.

The leaves come from a small evergreen tree which is often cultivated as an ornamental plant. The curry leaf tree originates from India and Sri Lanka, is most often found in tropical to sub-tropical regions but can also be grown in South Australia.

As well as the aromatic, spicy leaves, the tree produces small, fragrant white flowers that become blackberry-like fruits. The fruit is edible, but the seed is poisonous.

Curry leaves have the strongest flavour and aroma when fresh. Use them in soups, sauces and stews as you would use bay leaves. You can also dry and crush the leaves, store in a sealed glass jar out of light and use within a couple of months.

Adelaide Showground Farmers’ Market stallholder The Food Forest has curry leaf for sale for $2.50 per bunch ($2.25 for market members), picked from a 2m-tall tree on its farm. The Food Forest attends the market on a fortnightly basis and will be there this Sunday (October 18) from 9am-1pm at the Adelaide Showground, Leader Street, Wayville.  The Prospect Farmers’ Market is also held on Thursday afternoons at Vine Street Plaza, next to the town hall on Prospect Road, from 3-7pm.

What’s on?

Classic Adelaide Rally Fleurieu Leg – October 16
Watch the cars racing by while you sit back and enjoy lunch at Leonards Mill from a menu designed to showcase the produce of the Fleurieu Peninsula. There will be live entertainment by Garry Isaacs, and local artisan craft and food stalls to browse. Lunch is $65 per person (including food and entertainment). To book your table, email [email protected]

Sukhumvit Soi.38 birthday banquet – October 18
Sukhumvit Soi.38 chef Terry Intarakhamhaeng is preparing a banquet menu matched to seven South Australian wines to celebrate the Pulteney Street restaurant’s first birthday. The dinner is a one-off event; tickets cost $85 per head and are limited to 50 people. Bookings can be made by calling the restaurant on 8223 5472.

Howard’s Cook Off – October 25
Howard’s Cook Off is on again at the Duke of Brunswick Hotel in Gilbert Street. Current judge Professor Barbara Santich has suggested dill, chives, cress, fennel, tarragon, chervil, borage, mint, sorrel, lemon balm, sage, savoury, lavender, salad burnet, oregano, Vietnamese mint and lemongrass as possible ingredients. Recreational cooks are invited to submit their dishes for judging by 12.30pm with lunch to follow. More information is available from the Duke of Brunswick Hotel.

Wine and Writing – October 25
The SA Writers Centre’s annual literary luncheon this year features award-winning authors Cate Kennedy and Sean Williams performing live readings and discussing what it’s like to be a writer at the Publishers Hotel. The two-course luncheon is open to the public. Tickets are $60 for members and $65 for non-members. More information can be found here.

Fermentation for Health Workshop – October 28
Gut Feeling and Dirty Girl Kitchen are holding a fermentation workshop to teach participants how to produce probiotic-rich fermented vegetables and beverages, including sauerkraut, kimchi, ginger beer and kombucha, at Entropy café in Thebarton. Cost is $65. More information can be found here.

Fresh Eyre to Clare – until October 31
In a regional collaboration between the Eyre Peninsula and the Clare Valley, a program of food and wine events showcasing seafood and Riesling will be held in the Clare Valley this month. A highlight of the program will be a large public event on the lawns at Sevenhill Cellars with live entertainment and a Riesling bar with more than 20 wineries pouring Rieslings matched to seafood dishes prepared by the regions’ chefs. The full event program can be found here.

Variety on King William lunch – October 23
Enjoy a three-course lunch by Bottega Rotolo, Ichitaro Dining, Faraja, Parisi’s, By Blackbird and Mulot’s Patisserie matched to Tomich Wines and Wicks Estate wines by the runway along King William Road at this year’s Adelaide Fashion Festival. Tickets are $140 per person. The menu and more information can be found here.

2015 Vale Brewing CheeseFest – October 23 to 25
Now in its 10th year, CheeseFest has grown from a grassroots fair celebrating cheese to a three-day festival with a national following where visitors immerse themselves in SA’s cheese culture with tastings, talks, cooking sessions and picnic trails. The full program and tickets are available here.

Lunch with BK Wines and Performance Anxiety – October 25
Adelaide Hills winemaker and ex-chef Brendon Keys is matching his spring-release wines to a creative menu at the Chihuahua Lunch Club, while thespians Amber McMahon and Sarah Giles provide the entertainment. Tickets are $89 per person. Booking inquiries can be made here.

News, tips and information?

The Forager would love to hear about your news, events and suggestions. Please contact us at [email protected].