The Tiv's grand new interior. Picture: TAIT SCHMAAL Source: The Advertiser
A FRESH look for an old pub works wonders on eye and palate.
It was hard to ignore the Hotel Tivoli renovations. Their protruding hoardings slowed Pirie St traffic for months.
Now the old pub is unveiled, spruce and triumphantly reborn - alive for a new era and a new upmarket clientele.
It is no mere facelift. Piers Schmidt, nephew of Adelaide's famous hospitality Schmidts, has gone for the major bedazzle.
One just has to step into the front bar, where black shelving full of the gleam and glint of polished bottles and glasses towers above the bar and the array of strikingly upholstered bar stools. Immense white chandeliers of a reindeer-horn design dominate the scene. There is a huge golden daybed with neat cocktail table and, under the windows, a stridently contrasting colour scheme dictating the casual side of the bar. It is all rather fearlessly stylised.
The inner sanctum of the dining room is more restrained. The black tables stand on black-and-white striped carpet beneath the huge arched ceiling of what was once the old Tivoli ballroom. The ceiling now is a glory of gold, its ancient cracks and contours giving it a sense of precious, gilded antiquity. Large rectangles of black-and-gold fabric almost upholster the western wall, while the airy freshness of a courtyard looks in through the glass.
While everything is rather grand and formal fusion, there is just an undercurrent of the non-conformist. If it is not in the alternate colour schemes of the chairs, it is in the loos where, for no or every good reason, famous speeches are being played on a loop - and one may use the facilities to the accompaniment of the guttural expostulations of Adolf Hitler.
The restaurant menu is not huge - five main-course selections, five pasta/paella/risotto choices, four sides and five entrees plus a swag of oyster options and five desserts, including cheese. The range, however, is cleverly expanded with the addition of long lists of bar nibbles and pub plates.
The daily specials are announced on a blackboard.
Char-grilled spiced quail with caramelised pear, fetta and rocket salad with balsamic syrup turns out to be a dreamy starter. The quail, succulent and perfectly char-flavoured, marry exquisitely with the spongy, grilled bread on which they sit. The touch of thick balsamic adds a piquant edge. It's a winner. Similarly, the kataifi-wrapped prawns on a cucumber-and-mint pickle salad are just right. The kataifi's light crispness is a welcome change from the standard old coconut covering.
The wine list is extensive - from $33 bottles of Dom Perignon and $120 bottles of Penfolds St Henri Shiraz to $7.50 glasses of Schild Estate Frontignac or $8 Mitchell Watervale Riesling.
There's also a huge selection of fancy cocktails for those in the mood.
From the daily specials menu, the crusted, pan-fried barramundi arrives teetering on a tower of vegetables. The aioli is a bit acidic and the fish a bit mushy. But the crusty flavours work.
The Spanish paella, spiked with black mussels for striking presentation, is an interesting offering. Slivers of chorizo, some tender prawns and texturally exquisite pieces of chicken are the highlights of this saffron-infused rice dish, which is really rather red and dense and more like a saucy risotto than a paella.
Service at the Tiv is very elegant and adept. The waitresses are fleet-footed, polite and well informed.
Hence there is time for coffee and dessert. The passionfruit pavlova, however, is a bit hard in the meringue department, though the passionfruit custard is yummy. The piece de resistance turns out to be the old-fashioned vanilla cheesecake with raspberries and syrup. A good cheesecake on a great biscuit base is hard to beat.
The Hotel Tivoli is still running in, finding its feet and its clientele. It is the first upmarket eatery intended to service the burgeoning accommodation market of that part of the East End, so it is a bit lonely so far - but Mr Schmidt is thinking ahead; it is sure to find its place as a hot spot.
THE RESTAURANT
HOTEL TIVOLI
265 Pirie St, Adelaide.
Phone: 8223 4790.
Open: Mon-Fri, lunch and dinner, 11am until late. Sat, dinner, 5pm until late. Early April, opening Saturdays for lunch and Sundays lunch and dinner.
Seating: 232 (including bar).
Wheelchair access: Yes.
Owner: Piers Schmidt.
Chef: Steven Webster.
THE VERDICT
THE BILL
Appetisers: $9-$16.
Mains: $16-$23.
Desserts: $9.
BYO: By arrangement.
SUMMARY
A way-out and aesthetically offbeat new environment.
SCORE 14.5/20
Score guide:
Below 10: Awful. 11-12: Fair. 13-14: Good. 15-16: Special. 17-18: Outstanding. 19: Brilliant. 20: Perfect.
