Allegra Dining Room
Pint-sized and plant-based, Allegra Dining Room was considered a gem of Adelaide’s fine-dining scene. Opened in 2019, the 28-seat restaurant won over diners with its warm atmosphere and sophisticated contemporary seasonal menu, but closed in 2021 when owners and operators Melissa and Federico Pisanelli – who also own the ground-floor pizzeria, Etica – took leave after welcoming their first child.
The family returned to one of their favourite holiday destinations, the Basque country in Spain, for a 16-month hiatus, and are now back in South Australia with plans to reopen Allegra on January 29. Speaking to Broadsheet, Melissa Pisanelli says the hospitality they experienced on the trip was formative.
“This experience reaffirmed what we love and do at Allegra – that warmth of authentic hospitality and being made to feel comfortable while travelling as a family. This coupled with a focus on quality ingredients, treated thoughtfully and simply,” she says.
The couple is excited to share this style of hospitality at Allegra 2.0. And while some things will remain the same – most importantly its plant-based ethos – the menu has been entirely revised. While remaining tight-lipped about dish specifics, she says instead of a 10-dish set menu, Allegra will offer 12 to 16 courses.
Previous dishes have included fermented roots with sesame butter; potato croquette with watercress and horseradish; watermelon carpaccio with strawberry; charred capsicum with pine nuts; and a dessert of poached apricot, prosecco and mint.
The menu “will be ever-focussed on seasonality, and the use of diverse innovative cooking techniques,” says Melissa. “Our ethos is that we rely on what is near with ideas inspired by afar.”
Allegra Dining Room is slated to reopen on Sunday January 29 and will serve dinner from Thursday to Sunday each week.
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