Acclaimed Chef Ryan Clift Returns to Australia To Open Skillogalee Restaurant in the Clare Valley

Ryan Clift and Australia have been flirting with each other.

The British-born chef who trained under Marco Pierre White has an Australian-accented CV, which includes eight years at Vue de Monde. “Really, it was the start of my career,” he says.

He moved to Southeast Asia in 2008. “I had the opportunity to go to Singapore to open my own restaurant, the Tippling Club,” he says. The now-closed Tippling Club was the first Asian venue to make the World’s 50 Best Bars list. He also owns and operates The Cave in Bali.

But after years working in bustling cities, Clift began to feel disconnected from the sources of his ingredients.

“For a very long time, I’ve dreamed of having a restaurant in the country with access to local produce. I’ve dreamed of having a beautiful farm where we can cultivate produce to sustain the restaurant,” says Clift.

Enter Skillogalee owner Simon Clausen. Clausen frequented Clift’s restaurants and spent many nights telling the chef about his Clare Valley property, which includes the dry-grown Skillogalee vineyards, a historic 1850s cottage and a much-loved olive tree.

Clausen’s years of wooing Clift finally paid off last year, when the chef was in Adelaide for a Tippling Cub pop-up at Canopy Bar. “He brought me down to the project to have a look, and I just fell in love with it. I fell in love with the serenity, I fell in love with the region, I fell in love with the people, the land”, says Clift.

In short order, Clift decided to move to Clare, where he will open Skillogalee Restaurant in 2027.

When Clift speaks to Broadsheet, he’s in Clare, standing in the cottage he and his wife will eventually move into, animatedly describing the vision that’ll come to life at Skillogalee.

“Outside the front of the restaurant, there’ll be stunning herb gardens. I’m talking to you now, with such a smile on my face. I’m so excited by this. Every chef’s dream is being able to build a restaurant, custom, from the ground up. Right now, I can see a giant hole where the custom-built cellar is going. The restaurant’s going to be built on top of that,” he says.

Clift is known for his inventive approach to gastronomy. At Tippling Club, he had “a million-dollar laboratory”. At Skillogalee Restaurant, he’s taking a more rustic approach. But “my food will always remain intellectual and creative.”

The semi-open kitchen is being built to help him achieve this vision. “The pass elongates into the dining room. We’re getting a custom-built island stove with a beautiful woodfired hearth, so there will be rustic styles of cooking happening, as well as the progressive stuff,” he says.

“The dining room will feed up to about 40 people with big gaps between tables. Everybody will be facing out towards the vineyard.”

It’s still early days, but Clift is already planning the restaurant’s set menu. He’ll spend the rest of 2026 meeting with producers and designing the kitchen garden alongside Guy Parkinson, Skillogalee’s general manager.

“[Parkinson]’s got connections with everybody. They have an 80-year-old lady next door, growing this heirloom asparagus that is just insane, better than anything I’ve seen from France. The access to some produce around here is just mind-blowing. The soil is amazing. Everybody here seems purely driven by good-quality food, so it’s ticking a lot of boxes,” he says.

Beyond the restaurant, there will be a cellar door with seating for about 30 walk-in guests serving “very honest wine-focused food” with a French bent. There will also be accommodation on-site for around 25 people.

Despite the serene surroundings, Clift doesn’t plan to slow down. “I don’t think it will be a change in pace. I only have one gear and that’s full speed.” His ambition is further amplified by the announcement that South Australia will be the first Australian state to award Michelin stars.

“The fact that Michelin Guide originally was: worth a detour, worth a visit, worth a drive. I think we encompass everything in those old Michelin standards,” he says. “We’re an hour-and-a-half drive from Adelaide. We have this custom-built destination restaurant. I’m not saying I’m pushing for it, but it would be very nice to be recognised by them. [But] at the same time, I’ve always had my opinion that it’s about the food and the customers first.”

At the end of the day, Clift’s move to the Clare Valley was driven by a pursuit of provenance over prestige and that's what he hopes will be on display when Skillogalee Restaurant opens next year.

Skillogalee Restaurant will open at 23 Trevarrick Road, Sevenhill in early 2027.

www.skillogalee.com.au/restaurant

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