adelaide

2014 Cellar Door Festival – Bigger and Better

- Alex Prichard Leave a comment

Untitled

Late last year I was asked to be a social media ambassador for the 2014 Cellar Door Festival. There have been a few events for the ambassadors, including a session at OzHarvest and a cheese and wine matching class (I missed that one as I was ham and wine matching in Spain at the time).

As the festival itself is almost upon us (it kicks off next Friday, 14 February) the final ambassador event was held last week at the Adelaide Convention Centre. We were treated to an ‘amazing race’ style evening – charging around the centre, learning more about both the festival and local produce. After we’d built up a head of steam, several of the ‘new producers’ who are being showcased by PIRSA were on hand to chat to us about their foods and participation in the festival.

My partner, Rubina, and I didn’t quite manage to win the race part of the evening (though if there had been a prize for making the most noise, taking it seriously and getting into the spirit of things in an over the top manner, we would DEFINITELY have won that!) we did come in a creditable third (out of five).

For me, probably the most interesting part of the race was trying the alpaca carpaccio. Alpaca is probably not a meat you’ll have come across before. While it’s been eaten in South America for centuries its appearance on Australian menus is still very novel. I had a lovely chat to Perry from Fleurieu Prime Alpaca, and I recommend checking out the meat at the festival. It’s extremely lean, tender and very gently flavoured. You might also find some alpaca on the menu at Pranzo in the CBD.

While the festival is, of course, about wine (and a bit of beer, too!), this year it has a much greater focus on food. Of the producers I met last week, many have a strong emphasis on native ingredients so festival goers will have the opportunity to try plenty of new foods – both at the Farmers’ Market and from individual producers.

This year, the festival’s masterclasses also have a strong food theme. On the opening evening (Friday 14 February) Marion Grasby will be hosting a Valentine’s Day Extravaganza (you can win tickets to this over at McFuzzlebutt’s Manchen – NOTE, you will need to purchase your own Cellar Door Festival tickets separately). Over the course of the weekend she is also hosting two further classes (Summer Entertaining and Asian Favourites) and there are seafood, cheese and, of course, wine focussed classes.

Classes do need to be booked in advance: full details are on the Cellar Door Festival website.

A Little Light Bar Crawling

- Alex Prichard Leave a comment

Cage Under Lights
photo by Theen Moy, cc licensed
Peel Street … not actually this quiet …

As you’ll know if you live in Adelaide, our liquor licensing laws have changed, making it much easier for small venues to open.  And boy has there been a rush: bars are opening faster than … um, something very fast.

Thanks to an insanely hectic couple of weeks, I’ve actually had a chance to check out some bars, miss out on others and generally wear myself out.

What have I missed? Yes, I’m still the only person in Adelaide (or so it seems) who hasn’t yet been to Clever Little Tailor (CLT). In fact, I’ve got a friend who lives in London who’s been there so maybe I’m the only person in Australia … Every time I wander down Peel Street, CLT is full to the brim and I’m just not the kind of person who queues. In addition to this, I’m also old and grumpy and once I have my drink, I like to sit down quietly and have a nice chat. I guess I’ll just have to make sure that next time I head there I get there at 4pm when it opens!

So whizzing past CLT but staying on Peel Street, we headed in to Peel St, where we managed to find a sneaky seat at the bar, only to be told that it was booked for about 20 minutes or so. So now we book seats at bars in Adelaide? Peel St is actually more restaurant than bar and the menu, wine list and friendly service were enough for it to be put on the ‘to do’ list. If you want to head there for a meal I’d recommend booking. If you’re just having a cheeky drink, you’ll have to try your luck.

On the same evening, with still an hour or so to kill til our dinner reservation at Cos, we headed to Leigh Street. We knew that Udaberri would be totally rammed (and we were right) so we sat outside Casablabla and enjoyed a couple of drinks. We were actually able to hear each other talk! We left just before the belly dancing kicked in though …

On a separate occasion (this time a Wednesday night) I ducked in to Proof (at just 8 weeks or so old this is nowhere near the baby of the Adelaide bar scene …), and enjoyed a glass of Austrian Grüner Veltliner and a conversation with some friends. However, it was busy and I suspect come Friday nights you can expect to be shoulder to shoulder with the bar men (who, I might add, were nattily dressed in shirts, ties and waistcoats). Proof is on Anster Street, just off Waymouth Street (usually described as being behind Press*).

Meal wise on these occasions I ate at Cos, on Leigh Street, and Melt, on Waymouth Street. At Cos we had a lovely meal (sweetbreads, steak tartare and lemon tart for me, pork belly, fish and affogato for Andy, accompanied by Rieslingfreak No 8) and were very well looked after. At Melt, they were happy to adapt the tasting menu (insanely reasonably priced at $39 a head) to accommodate the vegan at our table. While some of the dishes were a little under-seasoned some were absolutely amazing. The stand out dish for me was the No 38 pizza: chargrilled courgette/zucchini, caramelised onion, speck, lemon and mint. That was one serious pizza.

This is just a tiny bite of the bars popping up all over Adelaide … what’s your favourite new drinking hole?

Loft Oyster and Wine Bar

- Alex Leave a comment

date of visit:  Wednesday 22 May 2013

disclaimer: I was a guest at the Loft launch party.

Untitled
how every good party should wrap up …

With licensing laws changing to accommodate small bars and an increasing number of wine bars, I think it’s obvious to all that Adelaide’s bar scene is undergoing a subtle change. While there may be some very real concerns about whether or not Adelaide can sustain all these venues, the people behind Loft Oyster and Wine Bar* certainly think it can.

Loft is a massive, first floor bar at the Morphett Street end of Gouger Street. It actually opened about a month ago and a friend hosted  his farewell drinks there a couple of weeks back. I was unable to head out that night but fortunately, karma looked on me kindly and an invitation to the official launch party landed in my inbox.

Once the issue of what to wear had been solved (and yes, if you’re heading somewhere straight from work this does represent a dilemma!), and we’d eaten some dinner, it was time for my friend and me to head to Loft.

The red carpet was out for the VIPs and we headed upstairs to be greeted with glasses of Louis Roederer Champagne. One of my biggest pet peeves of all time is people referring to random sparkling wine as Champagne. In Adelaide, of all places, we should know better. I’ve been to weddings in very flash hotels here where guests are offered “Champagne” only for it to be Australian sparkling wine (and not even locally produced). So I was thrilled that the invitation delivered on its promise, because a wine bar that messed that up would really suffer in the credibility stakes!

The bar runs along one side and the room is broken up at the far end by a circular curtain. The street facing side of the room has a balcony which was all opened up. This was fantastic because even though it was a relatively cool night, it helped keep the interior area cool and comfortable. The downside was, of course, that people were smoking on the balcony, and every now and then you’d get a breeze of slightly less than fresh air. I’m not sure how you’d fix that but maybe something the Loft management can consider is designating part of the balcony a smoking area and keeping the doors and windows there closed.

Being a launch party, I’m not in a position to comment on the usual beverage selection (or prices) but I was really impressed with a large counter which played host to an interesting and broad selection of white wines.  Someone with more than a passing interest in wine put it together:  there aren’t many venues where you can find Ducks in a Row Fiano side by side with Greywacke Wild Ferment Sauvignon Blanc and a Chablis … (name dropping over, I promise!).

Untitledunfortunately not my bar at home …

I didn’t try any of the canapés (yes, perhaps I ate too much at dinner) but my friend, purely in the interests of research and the integrity of this review, tried an oyster which received a thumbs up.

Loft was formally launched by Ben Tolstoshev of The Lane, with a very short and sweet speech that allowed everyone to get back to the serious socialising!

Untitled

Loft is open Wednesday – Sunday and for wine drinkers I’d say it’s a must visit venue. For everyone else, I’d head along and check it out because you’re bound to find something you’ll enjoy.  I know I’ll be heading back to take a serious look at those white wines …

* Loft’s website is under development:  currently it’s just a landing page.

Loft Oyster and Wine Bar on Urbanspoon