Adelaide food awards - Everyone's a winner

Chef Vincenzo La Montagna from Vincenzo's Cucina Vera restaurant in Parkside holding a goose. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe Source: AdelaideNow

Restaurant of the year - The Manse 

ABOUT this time last year, a bright-eyed young couple were handed the keys to the Rolls-Royce of Adelaide restaurants.

Chefs Lachlan Colwill and Emma Shearer could have gone for a wild fang at

The Manse, and left it a smouldering wreck.

Or, become bored with the hard work needed to keep the duco shining.

However, these partners in the kitchen, and in life, have exceeded all expectations. Their creativity, raw energy and attention to detail have the old girl firing on all cylinders, with everyone from the kitchen to the waiting staff playing their part.

The Manse is now a complete, polished package, and a standout choice for our Restaurant of the Year in 2010.

Lachlan, now 24, and Emma, 27, met in the kitchen of the Barossa's 1918. She is the artist of the partnership, who paints for a hobby, and creates the desserts as gorgeous abstract works. He is the organiser and the whiz who blends top produce and a little technology in seamless sensory packages.

From the first little temptation of a fine tuna tartare with celery frothand the crunch of pumpkin seeds, to the madeleinesserved with coffee that comes fresh from the oven every half hour, the cooking here is inventive and assured.

The menu, offered a la carte or in petite or grande degustations, continues to evolve but might include pink snapper fillet with a wonderful red cabbage consomme or, more daring, crumbed foie gras with pineapple and a muscatel jelly. Finish with a deconstructed chocolate bar with salted caramel, honey nougat and a nutty rubble.

These morsels are delivered by a mostly youthful staff who have obviously been well schooled in the nuances of each dish, and are the right mix of personable and professional.

When expert knowledge of the wine is required, they defer to sommelier Marcel Bellenger, a master at tailoring his spiel to suit the interest of each table.

If you reckon that fine dining is on its last legs, the realm of the old guard, book into The Manse and marvel at what this young brigade has achieved.

The Manse, 142 Tynte St, North Adelaide; ph 8267 4636

Best CBD Lunch - Pranzo 

CITY lunchtime dining offers great quality in Adelaide, and the best venues marry a smart, distinctive menu with plenty of speed and individual table attention, day in day out.

This award is keenly contested with arguably eight to 10 very consistent operators every year worthy of the award. This year, we skipped between a great French bistro, several favourite Italians, a steak and salad specialist, and the legal and Chinatown precincts' most popular haunts.

In the end, we voted for one of the most atmospheric Italian eateries going around; open to a laneway with awnings and al fresco tables and a genuinely lively and vibey room with smartly attired, mature staff, able to understand each guest's food and wine needs.

The wine list is broad, flexible and exciting.

Then the cooking of Hayden Fyfe delivers the testament of simple, refined, confident dishes that harness the best in produce without overwhelming the senses.

The basics are ticked off with elan: the risotto, pasta and pizza are all top class, as is a side of macaroni cheese in case the children are joining you for a quick bite.

It has the feel of a place to be, and sends you back to work believing that yes, we can dine well in a contemporary, healthy and worldly style.

Pranzo, 46 Exchange Place, Adelaide, Ph 8231 0661

Best Community - Parwana

FARIDA Ayubi and her family have given Adelaide another shining jewel in our diverse collection of multicultural eating experiences. They have also given us a greater understanding of the rich history of their homeland that is mostly in the news for the wrong reasons.

Farida's eggplant, impossibly rich and luscious, is already the stuff of legend, and her rice palaws, perhaps strewn with a thread of caramelised carrot and pistachios, need no accompaniment. Now, with a proper charcoal grill, the skewers of lamb and chicken have the irresistible smokiness to be a proper match. But the food is just a reflection of the warmth and hospitality that colours the whole experience.

Parwana Afghan Restaurant, 124b Henley Beach Rd, Torrensville; ph 8443 9001

Best Wine List - Appellation

APPELLATION'S "Local Community" listing of wines from its immediate surroundings (Greenock, Seppeltsfield and Marananga) in the northwest Barossa is more focused than ever, setting a central point from where to view the rest of the world's wine.

The Barossa is celebrated, of course, as are its artisan producers.

A broad selection of other Australian producers, key international regions and labels, with a range of recent and older vintages all adds up to a unique wine journey offered at Appellation. The restaurant under the guidance of head chef Mark McNamara also delivers a regular, yet elite, Wine Flight Tasting menu.

The most recent includes eight wines from the Clare and Barossa valleys, across more than 10 courses of extraordinary cooking.

Appellation, Seppeltsfield Rd, Marananga; ph 8562 4144.

New - Celsius

CONTRARY to the often-held impression that not much happens over a year in Adelaide's restaurant business, there have been several encouraging arrivals.

But the one most eagerly-awaited event was that of our former Chef-of-the-Year Ayhan Erkoc, formerly at the Manse and other consultancies during the past year or so, and now bravely venturing into his own business at the high culinary arts end of the spectrum.

Celsius offers a glimpse of a great movement in global gastronomy to local expression, be it grown, gathered or hunted.

There are Parkland snails and flowers, mixing it on the menu with elite foie gras foams. Plates have fashionable smears, dishes contrast serious French technique with subtle grabs from the modern molecular stylebook.

Celsius, 95 Gouger St, Adelaide; ph 8231 6023

Chef of the year/ Best Italian - Vincenzo's Cucina Vera

HE doesn't sleep too well, our chef of the year. Moments of genius some might call it madness pop into Vincenzo La Montagna's head all through the night.

How about covering calf's tongue in smoke-infused olive oil and baking it in a case of pastry made black by coal dust? Or turning a perfectly good leek into a pile of ash to accompany a deliriously melting piece of wagyu steak?

But, for all this imagination and modern trickery, Vincenzo's cooking is also underpinned by the traditions of his family and Italian upbringing a lifetime of tomato sauce days, working in his dad's bakery, killing the pig.

Indeed, perhaps his greatest achievement is to start each meal with "salumi" that brings a new appreciation of the possibilities of cured meat. He has selected the pig, butchered and processed it and waited patiently as it has aged in his cellar. In the case of his prosciutto, that is at least four years, partly explaining its pale colour and soft texture. Like the wagyu, it is a benchmark in pleasures of the flesh.

The salumi plate is one of the few certainties about a meal here. Where most menus change each season, or each week, Vincenzo cooks different dishes every day, even different dishes for different tables on the same night.

It all depends on what the chef can get his hands on, whether it's a delivery of live lobsters or Italian white truffle (the truffle that was generously shaved on our pasta had arrived less than an hour before).

Then there's the patch that produces most of the restaurant's greens.

There is no menu. Each meal is a personal relationship between chef and diner built on mutual trust and communicated beautifully by Vincenzo's partner and muse, Lara Marro.

She's the one with the initially tricky job of negotiating a meal where there are no fixed parameters of structure or cost. Five courses and $80 is usually sufficient, she will tell you. Some will lash out and have more.

But Vincenzo also tells proudly of the group of schoolgirls who visit regularly without their parents and spend what they can, or the regular customer that came in and ordered only a bowl of pasta. So everyone can share in Vincenzo's grand food obsession and that, as much as any reason, is why he is our Chef of the Year.

Vincenzo's Cucina Vera, 77 Unley Rd, Parkside; ph 8271 1000

Best Indian - The Spice Kitchen

RAGINI Dey keeps on rolling out wonderful, innovative dishes still so true to the traditional fare of her home country.

Her menu changes with the seasons, an unusual asset in itself. Ask for uncommon preferences, such as brains, when you book and she will come up with an extra dish for her ever-changing specials list.

And, while the pure class of her menu has it a little higher in price, there are early-bird and banquet options that put it in everyone's reach.

From the starter which just revs the appetite snap, crackle and poppin' spicy stuffed pappadam cones topped with tamarind and green chutney to the ultra-mod tray of four vindaloos, her spare ribs, a gorgeous fruity Kashmiri naan and unbeatable kulfi, there seems to be no parallel in Adelaide.

The Spice Kitchen, 252 Kensington Rd, Leabrook; ph 8431 4288

Best Cafe - Baretto

THIS unobtrusive little cafe next to the law courts is one of the year's great discoveries.

We were won over from the first sip of chef Rosa Vorrasi's chicken brodo, so pure and nourishing it could only be made by someone's mamma. But everything here is full of soul the pasta dishes are wonderful, a stuffed artichoke a messy delight, and the cafe makes some of the best coffee around.

Baretto also opens early for breakfast and one of the polenta dishes (sweet or savoury) will set you up for the day.

Order from a constantly changing blackboard menu at the front and choose from a pavement table on a sunny day or, for the real feel of Roma, head through to the clubby room at the back.

Baretto has just acquired a liquor licence, certain to please its lawyer clientele in particular.

Baretto, 302a King William St, Adelaide 5000 SA; ph 8212 4784

Best Asian - T-Chow

A FORMER winner at these awards for Best Chinese in the inaugural gongs in 2005, T-Chow has been through a proper makeover in the past year after original mentor Mr So retired, handing over the reins to the dynamic Jarrod Leow on the floor and Eric Leung in the kitchen.

Add a new chef, Thanh Huynh, and a refit for the team of young Chinese waiters, linen on every table, fish tanks, and a general lifting of spirits around the restaurant, without

tampering with the menu's much-treasured signature dishes of duck, oyster omelet,

cabbage rolls and many more, and T-Chow has come back to life.

Now, too, it offers one of the city's best yum cha services every day, yet the prices have remained at an almost unbelievably attractive level, the wine list still offers plenty of choice and the cooking is back to its best.

After an intense search across fine dining contenders, suburban heroes, and cuisines as diverse at Thai, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese, T-Chow has made a dramatic return to the podium in this very competitive genre.

T-Chow, 68 Moonta St, Adelaide; ph 8410 1413.

* This year, Kenji Modern Japanese

(5/242 Hutt St; phone 8232 0944) has made it to our Hall of Fame after winning the past three Best Asian Awards (2007-09). While this makes it ineligible for our 2010 award in this category, the venue is highly recommended by all our judges.

Best pub food - Gilbert St Hotel

THE world of hotel dining stretches from the dire to the delicious, with the ongoing make-over of our old pubs sometimes falling short at the dining room.

This year, we insisted the winner of our pub food category should offer a menu that served the bars and bistro sections of a hotel, and not just an upmarket restaurant attached to a hotel.

This is a much more egalitarian approach to reward a more courageous way of pub dining for one and all, allowing choice for adventurous palates as well as more traditional, but without any discrimination.

Our winner this year is a next-generation Saturno pub, from a family that has long been committed to good hospitality ideals.

Gilbert St's chef, Grant Schooling, already has scored an award this year for his "best burger" , but we were hungry for much more than this pub staple. Steak cooked perfectly, a pie from venison and green olive, fish with superb, regional gastronomy employed in its creation, all make for a genuinely successful dining experience.

Tapas/entrees with class, desserts with heart, a genuinely exciting wine list and a menu that offers artisan wine and craft beer matchings all make an impression.

Service with a smile and and an attentive ear and eye on the floor add to the pleasure.

It's a proper pub with proper food and drinks, and real people who care delivering it.

Gilbert St Hotel, 88 Gilbert St, Adelaide; ph 8231 9909

Best Contemporary - The Pot

THIS new award is a response to the relaxed style of eating many people favour. For the inaugural winner, The Pot Food and Wine, it could also be for "The Best Fun Night Out Involving a Knife and Fork".

We love Ashley Brandom's culinary romp through the best bits of the Med, with dishes as likely to include Spanish blood sausage with prawn and pea puree as crisp-skinned chunks of snook with a southern Italian mix of pine nuts and currants.

The wine list is a cracker, made more accessible with a brilliant "half bottle for half price" policy for choices under $100. But none of this would taste as sweet if everyone wasn't having such a hootin' good time, with lots of laughs, lively conversation and maybe a glass more than intended.

The Pot Food and Wine, 160 King William Rd, Hyde Park; ph 8373 2044

Best service - Carlos Alvarez

THE Pot's Carlos Alvarez has something pink in his hand, but it isn't the smart rose from the south of France he has just been spruiking.

No, this time it's a toy pig he's taken from the bar and he's using it to entertain a small child who is becoming restless as his dad pays the bill.

Our best service winner for 2010 has an affinity with all his customers, young and old, wine connoisseur and cleanskin alike.

Carlos keeps the service at The Pot humming along, seemingly with an eye for what is happening at every table.

He knows his menu and wine list intimately and how they are best combined.

At the same time, his relaxed demeanor sets the tone for that great night out.

He is the embodiment of everything that makes The Pot one of our favourites for the year.

Adelaide food legend - Lucia's Pizzeria & Spaghetti Bar

FEW eateries in South Australia in fact Australia-wide embody a family history, next-generation spirit and heart-beat location like Lucia's.

A market restaurant through and through, with southern Italian blood coursing through its veins and a passion to match behind the servery and in the kitchen, Lucia's has been a part of Adelaide's eating-out culture for more than 50 years.

A visit to the Central Market isn't the same without a stroll past, a drop-in for coffee or a sit-down for a quick lunch or Friday dinner at this western wall institution.

It is a place where the legacy of founder Lucia Rosella lives on through the energy of her daughters, Nicci Bugeja and Maria Rosella. Where family culinary tradition remains alive through simple rustic pizza, old-world gnocchi, crunchy, robust salads and, in winter, maybe an osso buco or lasagne.

The coffee and little sweet treats remain as tempting as they did decades and decades ago, the outdoor tables as in demand as always, a corner for lunch inside on a cold day as prized as the best of fine diners.

Now also the addition of a gourmet shop, Lucia's Fine Foods, has added to its brand and spread to the suburbs.

The legend lives on and on.

Lucia's Pizzeria and Spaghetti Bar, Central Market; ph 8231 2303

Best Seaside - Bombora

IN this state of sandy beaches, all we can ask is: More of it!

Olaf Hansen, previously of Aquacaf on Goolwa's riverfront, has re-invented himself at Bombora at Goolwa Beach, almost on the beach, in fact. The setting is not too far advanced from the original kiosk on the site, because it's all about the food. It's pure seaside, nothing fancy, and you can feel the white grit between your toes as you sip a beer and order from a surfboard menu that specialises in making decisions difficult. Crunchy whitebait, the best about, fresh, fresh fish usually caught within a day by his own selection of anglers, and some summery salsas that put ocean spray into the flavour mix.

Locals are vying with the visitors for a spot at the beachside breakfast, which may well be the thing he has to expand premises for.

Bombora at Goolwa Beach, Beach Rd, Goolwa; ph 8555 5396

Best regional - Fino

THE regional menu doesn't come much better than Fino. The restaurant, which mostly does lunches, with dinner on Fridays and Saturdays, has maintained an edge with its food for an enviable number of years. It is the result of a combination of talents: the artistry and seasonal and regional sensitivities of chef David Swain, below, and the intensity and attention to detail of front-of-house Sharon Romeo.

This is a restaurant that breaks all the rules to make sure you have a completely satisfying experience, although it is wise to put yourself entirely in the hands of the chef. The biggest room in the old cottage restaurant is the kitchen, and the intimate interlinked spaces open to a covered patio that looks into a lush kitchen garden on one side and out into Willunga village square on the other.

The menu ranges widely and boldly, a parade of unexpected dishes that might include abalini, a local greenlip abalone, in a glorious salad featuring Sharon's dad's pickled eggplant, or the famous duck breast with lentil, beetroot and broccolini. The small wine list is full of attitude, as if challenging you to come up with something better.

Fino, 8 Hill St, Willunga; ph 8556 4488