Despite the erratic year, Adelaide has managed a strong showing of new cafes. Coffee, pastries and compact lunches are pretty well geared towards takeaway, after all. And grabbing that daily flat white from our favourite barista has provided small but important respite from WFH life. Amid the lockdowns and restrictions, we welcomed a slick new bagel destination, Asian-inspired brunches upping the cafe fare game and a good-looking inner-west eatery from the Peter Rabbit crew.
It’s been a little quieter for Adelaide’s bar scene, which has been hit hard by ongoing patron caps. Thankfully, things are looking a little brighter as we head into the final days of the year – with the addition of a tiny natural-wine bar in the CBD and a brand-new neighbourhood all-rounder.
Missed our round-up of Adelaide’s best restaurant openings? Find it here.
Leisurely Coffee
Ibrahim Yu (ex-Devour) opened Leisurely Coffee last month in the former Paddy’s Lantern site. The interior’s had a refit and a new kitchen installed, but the trusty Synesso espresso machine that served Paddy’s so well for over a decade remains. It’s now paired with three Anfim grinders serving two different blends and rotating single origins. Filter and batch brew are also available, courtesy of ACT roaster Ona Coffee. Sample the spectrum with the “barista’s breakfast” – a single-origin espresso, a flat white and a hit of batch brew, served with sparkling water to wake up the palate. The tiny kitchen is churning out creative brunches including a croissant filled with softshell crab and chilli scramble (with a green apple and papaya salad on the side); house-made chicken and mushroom dumplings; a halal take on the classic bacon and egg roll (custom-smoked beef bacon, sweetcorn scramble and Swiss cheese on brioche); and bao buns with poached eggs and beef bacon. Fresh pastries arrive daily courtesy of Market Street, and bread is from Skala Bakery.
Mascavado
Lea Chairesa, owner of Hutt Street patisserie Mascavado, can her trace her interest in food back to her childhood in Indonesia. It’s an interest she reconnected with after high school in Sydney, where she went on to work at venues such as Cirrus Dining, KOI Dessert Bar and Black Star Pastry. This year she finally opened her own. The Sans-Arc Studio-designed space is clean and simple, with a handful of benches inside and a terrazzo countertop displaying pastries, cakes and tarts. There are croissants (plain and chocolate), cinnamon scrolls, whisky-and-almond knots, a mascarpone-and-Moscato choux, flourless brownies and chai blondies (a white chocolate-based brownie with spices). Fruit danishes include plum and rose; pear and ginger; and mixed berry and rosemary. Umami-packed miso cookies are a highlight. Savoury options include three-cheese toasties, sandwiches and ham and cheese croissants. Almost all ingredients are sourced locally, including flour from Flinders Ranges Premium Grain. The coffee is from Elementary.
Bloom
A contender for prettiest opening of the year, this new eatery and function space from the Peter Rabbit crew opened in spring in a former tram barn in industrial Thebarton. The Sans-Arc Studio fit-out is full of natural colour tones and textures: think timbers, stucco walls, stone floors and leather seats. Outside, a pavilion (which can be booked out for weddings and parties) has views of the River Torrens and surrounding gum trees. The all-day menu draws from a wide range of influences – from Japanese (a chicken-and-miso ramen with house-made wholemeal noodles) to Thai (charcoal chicken with basmati, yellow curry yoghurt and garden herbs) to Italian (house-made pasta with slow-braised beef-cheek) – and has been designed with fire in mind. Out of a large, dome-shaped hearth comes woodfired halloumi; fire-roasted strawberries; and wood-roasted pumpkid. Even the drinks get a lick of fire: think wood-roasted banana or grilled peaches and cream smoothies, smoked-plum gin sours and smoked mulberry with Japanese liquor.
Frankly Bagels
Frankly Bagels owners Jack Crichton and Christie Wilkinson were inspired by institutions such as Melbourne’s Mile End Bagels and Beigel Bake in London, where Wilkinson lived for a stint. Upon moving back to Adelaide the pair found a petite site at the bottom of a new five-level apartment building in Prospect. The sleek space is designed with takeaway front of mind: there’s just a handful of tables and chairs inside, and a sprawling oval across the road for diners to spill out to, weather permitting. Eventually the team hopes to open a bigger site where they can make bagels in-house. For now they’re sourcing the rings from Bagel Boys Bakery (which are steamed, rather than boiled, before baking). Crichton uses the Sunny’s Pizza kitchen to prep the fillings, which include pastrami with Swiss cheese, slaw and Russian dressing; and chicken with tarragon mayo, celery, walnut and greens. The big seller is the smoked salmon, which comes with labneh instead of cream cheese, plus remoulade and capers. Our pick is the classic salt beef number with hot English mustard and pickles.
Matinal
Starting the day with a cereal-bowl-sized cup of coffee – three shots, with or without milk – is a thing in France. They’re perfect for dunking croissants, reckons French native Dom Lentz, who owns La Buvette with his wife Hayley Lentz. Dedicated to the French ritual of aperitif, the Gresham Street bar usually serves natural wines, French spirits and snacks from 4pm. But its new daytime alter ego Matinal (“morning person” in French) fires up at 7am – pouring those hulking, two-hands-necessary bowls of coffee (from local roaster Dawn Patrol Coffee). Alongside it are savoury quiches; lemon-meringue and almond tarts; Abbots and Kinney croissants and pain au chocolat; and bistro classics such as croissant perdu (French toast made with croissants) and soft-boiled eggs with baguette soldiers. French staples such as croque monsieur, the fried-egg-topped croque madame, and garlic-buttered escargot have rolled over from the existing menu.
Seven Grounds
New Brompton café Seven Grounds is the sole SA stockist of popular Melbourne roaster St Ali. Try the St Ali blends in the form of espresso, cold or batch brew, filter or V60. Hardcore coffee-lovers can opt for the “barista breakfast” ($10), which includes a shot of espresso, a flat white and a filter coffee. There’s also a sweet, nutty taro latte and a slushy-style coconut iced coffee, inspired by owner Andre Penascoza’s travels to Hanoi. Chef Mark Goode (ex-Electra House) is turning out an Asian-inspired menu featuring Hong Kong egg waffles, a staple dish of the region, plus bacon-and-egg breakfast dumplings in a smoked-ginger broth; wok-tossed sausage with shimeji mushrooms and a fried egg (served on garlic sourdough); and a chicken-katsu sando. There’s also pastries from Market St and The Pastry Templar.
Loc Bottle Bar
Loc Bottle Bar is a physical progression of owner Olivia Moore’s online bottle shop, which launched earlier this year. The result is a merging of both concepts. Inside, a shelf on the back wall holds 150-odd bottles of low-intervention wine (Loc stands for left-of-centre) divided into old and new world. Guests can select the wine they want straight off the shelf or leave the choice in the staff’s hands. There’s no service bar – removing the usual barrier between staff and guests – just an electric-blue communal bar table plus bench seating along one wall. The petite space has no room for a kitchen, so staff are plating up small bites devised by chef Maria Delengas (Bloom). Right now it’s olives, pickles, smoky seeds, saucisson, French cheese and crackers; soon the menu will expand to include tarama on rye bread, sardines and tomato, salt-cured swordfish, and more.
Honourable mention
Good Gilbert
This neighbourhood all-rounder opened just days ago, so yes it’s a little early to call. But with the minds from Mornings Coffee, Konbini, Truck ‘n’ Roll and Commute involved, we wager this’ll be one of the summer’s hot new hangouts, and a long-needed addition to Goodwood Road.
