A bowl of pasta at one of Adelaide’s most popular restaurants with an eye-watering price tag is being blamed for the demise of a first date, but many cashed-up foodies are digging deep to experience the state’s growing list of fine dining restaurants.
The meal in question was the Southern Rock Lobster Alla Maccheroni Alfredo with White Pepper and Smoked Lemon. It’s on the menu at popular city haunt Fugazzi, part of MasterChef champion Laura Sharrad’s successful stable of restaurants.
It will set you back $159, and when a young local woman ordered it without consulting the man she had assumed would pay for it, there was to be no second date.
Joining the likes of Fugazzi in South Australia’s extravagant dining space is Restaurant Aptos, which opened in Stirling last month with world-renowned chef Justin James at the helm.
The restaurant welcomes just 14 guests per sitting, travelling through three dining rooms.
The 16-course tasting menu is $495 dollars per person, with drinks at an additional cost.
Chef James left Restaurant Botanic to pursue this new venture, handing over the reins to Jamie Musgrave.
The tasting menu there promises to take diners on a journey through the country’s diverse flavours, complemented by botanicals handpicked from the 51-hectare garden that surrounds them. That’s $315 a head.
At Magill Estate Restaurant, the signature menu is $295 per person for dinner, with wine pairings on offer for up to $350.
“We want guests to walk away with an unforgettable experience that goes far beyond just a meal,” Chef Scott Huggins explains.
“It starts with sourcing exceptional produce and shaping it into something thoughtful and delicious, but it’s equally about where you are, at the spiritual home of Penfolds, and a team that delivers with genuine care,” he says.
MasterChef alumni and food and hospitality expert Mandy Hall acknowledges these price tags may be hard to swallow during a cost of living crisis, but points out fine dining restaurants have an important role to play in the South Australian economy.
“Going out to restaurants creates jobs, it supports producers, it showcases regions and really importantly, it creates moments of connection, so I’m always mindful of never pitting one against the other and recognising both realities.”
Mandy Hall explains that the bill at the end of the meal reflects more than just the value of the food on the plate.
“It’s the craft, it’s the creativity, it’s the storytelling, it’s the experience, this extraordinary feat of coordination.
“When you get that plate in front of you, what you’re actually seeing is the work of farmers, fishers, winemakers, producers, chefs and service teams, from the dishy to the sommelier,” she says.
Aptos joins Botanic and Magill Estate as destination restaurants that prompt fine-dining foodies from all over the world to put Adelaide on their itinerary.
With the recent announcement that the Michelin Guide team is set to award its coveted star ratings to Adelaide restaurants it deems worthy, those food tourism numbers are set to grow.
Scott Huggins says Magill Estate’s guests already come from all over the world for his culinary experience.
“We often welcome travellers discovering this part of the world for the first time.”
But Mandy Hall says it’s not just cashed-up tourists and the Adelaide elite who will book our top restaurants.