Bite Size: Five New Things in Adelaide You Need To Know This Week – August 9, 2022

A real pearler
Sean’s Kitchen’s annual Oyster Fest is back this month with a limited-edition menu featuring $1 Smoky Bay oysters aka “one buck shucks” (when you order a glass of champagne), as well as Nashville-style fried-oyster rolls, oyster and leek soup, oyster linguine, and more. Keep the shell-ebration going with a limited-edition sweet and slightly salty brew by Pirate Life – Reggie’s Oyster Stout – made with freshly shucked oysters from the Eyre Peninsula. The mollusc-centric menu is available from Tuesday to Saturday, until August 31.

Whisk(e)y and Wagon Wheels

Whisk(e)y and chocolate is a time-honoured coupling. Less common is matching a 12-year-old Yamazaki (a single malt from Japan’s first and oldest malt distillery) with a Chomp bar. But that’s the kind of pairing you’ll find at Hains & Co this month. Barman Cody Banks has selected his favourite chocolates to go with a selection of whiskies – including Reese’s peanut-butter cups (matched with Ardbeg 10), Wagon Wheels (with Michters Small Batch bourbon), Curly Wurlys (with Knob Creek Rye) and Turkish Delight (with Overeem Port Cask) – for all of August. The bar is also hosting a tasting on August 25 featuring a range of “age statement” whiskies from Scottish lowland legend Bladnoch. Plus a tasting of single malt whiskies from Mornington Peninsula distillery Chief’s Son – paired with cheese and charcuterie from Bottega Rotolo – on September 1.

10 bars, 10 winemakers, one afternoon
The choose-your-own adventure Urban Wine Walk is back in town on August 27, with 10 stops throughout the east end. The self-guided trail will pass through The Howling Owl, Brklyn, Two Pot Screamer, The Stag Public House, Mr Goodbar, Roxie’s, Hellbound and more, where the producers behind labels such as Vinteloper, Ricca Terra, Jericho Wines and La Linea will be set up for tastings and talks. Tickets are $75 plus booking fee and include complimentary tastings, a $10 food voucher (to spend at any of the venues), a $25 voucher for event-day wine orders, and a tasting glass. Get ‘em here.

Wine and dine at Mount Lofty House
Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant (HVR) at Mount Lofty House has announced a new series of wine dinners, beginning on Thursday September 1 with a five-course dinner by head chef Jin Choi. Think marron with chilli and tamarind, toothfish with winter greens, smoked venison with goat curd and enoki mushrooms, and crème brûlée with coconut sorbet, paired with wines from the cellar of resident winemaker Xavier Bizot. The evening will also include a tour of HVR’s cellar and finish up in the Arthur Waterhouse Lounge. Tickets are $399 and available here.

In fashion

A pop-up studio and retail store for local creatives – Fashion Est – has opened on O’Connell Street in North Adelaide Village. The initiative of City of Adelaide and South Australian Fashion Industry Association brings together slow-fashion label Autark and handbag and leather goods label Katya Komarova alongside Josephine-Rose, Lian by Lian, Peloponnese and illustrator Petar Prodanović. “All the brands have very different aesthetics and have wonderfully different offerings to our clients, so really there’s something for all shoppers,” Autark founder and designer Sophia McMahon tells Broadsheet. “But most importantly all of us are Adelaide based, and most of us make locally or work with local manufacturers, so it’s a wonderful opportunity for people to support our local fashion industry, not just via the brands themselves, but as a whole.”

It’s also a rare opportunity for customers to meet and speak with the designers, who don’t usually have a public-facing shopfront. “It’s so wonderful that we can invite the public and our clients into this space to see how we all work, what goes on behind the scenes, and then they can see, try and learn more about our brands directly from the designers themselves,” says McMahon. “And the cherry on top is the collaborative way in which we are now able to work together – we can share ideas, experiences, bounce thoughts off each other. In an often quite solitary industry, it’s a wonderful way to grow your skills and learn from each other.” Fashion Est is open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10am to 4pm.