SOUTH AUSTRALIA

STATE WINNER

- 

STATE WINNERRestaurant Botanic

Plane Tree Dr, Adelaide [phone] restaurantbotanic. com.au

Chef Justin James

Price guide $$$$

Bookings Recommended

Wheelchair access Yes

AUSTRALIAN

Clam jam? Well, yes please. It’s like a sweet fermented chilli paste. But it’s complicated. Complex. It comes with a duck fat scone. The Country Women’s Association would be shocked, but it’s perfectly salty and crunchy and sits next to a plump lemon-myrtle marron, which in turn sits next to a marron shell stuffed with native herbs grown in Adelaide’s tranquil Botanic Gardens. The lake outside ripples, ducks waddle, and on request a ridiculously large truffle is showcased, not long after its shavings have been delivered. The restaurant here has always been perfectly situated, and has now been injected with wild new life. A new fitout: sage and cream, pendant lighting and wraparound windows into nature. A new chef and a new menu that would be jarring in its surprises if everything didn’t work perfectly. Which it does. The sommelier waxes lyrical about very small-batch wines that frame the food perfectly. A cooking fire blazes in the corner, while an extraordinary palate cleanser of Davidson plum leather wrapped around sorbet with a sprinkle of lemon myrtle does its job with forensic precision. There’s no menu given, just a well-scripted delivery of surprising juxtapositions, sure to thrill.