I celebrated my 30th birthday at The Summertown Aristologist. And my 31st. And my 32nd. I’ve cried there after a break-up, I kissed a date in the cellar, made lasting friendships and danced on the porch during many impromptu dance parties. Once, I was regaled with a colourful account of co-owner Aaron Fenwick’s birth after striking up a conversation with his mum.
Goodbye to The Summertown Aristologist, the “Whimsical Little Restaurant With a Strange Name” in the Adelaide Hills
The singular restaurant was only open for seven years, but “The Risty” (as it was cheekily known) made an indelible mark on the food and wine scene. In its final week of service, former staff and current friends reflect on its lasting impact.
The Aristologist is more than a restaurant. It was a community builder: a conduit for connections and relationships and memories to form. It was about so much more than just its food. But there was that too, of course: plates of house-churned butter smothered over sourdough, the excess crumbs given new life dusted over Jerusalem artichoke pie or rolled into passatelli pasta. There was the house-made charcuterie, cheese experiments, lacto-ferments, pickles and garums, and organic veggies grown at The Patch on co-owner Anton van Klopper’s property.
When Fenwick, van Klopper and fellow winemaker Jasper Button opened the doors in 2016, “natural wine” was still a curiosity (or complete unknown) for most diners. It soon became the centre of a thriving community, and the Aristologist an incubator for a revolving door of young-gun chefs. They toiled in the garden as well as the kitchen, each duo helping to shape and strengthen the DNA.

Tom Campbell, co-head chef, 2019-2022
A lot changed for me in the first visit I had to the Aristologist, a short time after opening, when Tom [Edwards] and Nath had the reins. I’d never had vegetables quite like that, prepared with such care, delicate finesse and simplicity; the bread and butter, complex and full of flavour; and the various cured meats and fresh cheeses and fish all shared the same simplicity and care … I realised in that moment this was what I wanted to do – make cheese, grow vegetables, mill grains, see things through from start to finish carrying the same philosophy and care even when it would be far easier to take a different route.
I had many, many visits after this, when Ollie [Edwards] and Bree [Smith] put their own spin on it (where I first got to do an occasional cameo in the kitchen) and later when Ethan [Eadie] and I were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to take the wheel and take it down our own winding, undulating road.
Under Edwards and Smith – partners in work and life who moved over from Melbourne to take over the kitchen – the restaurant went from strength to strength. But for the pair, who went on to cook at Hazel in Melbourne and now Bar Merenda in Daylesford, it’s the Hills’ all-in nature they’ll remember most.
Oliver Edwards, co-head chef 2017-2019
Brianna Smith, co-head chef 2018-2019
Edwards
They’re memories shared by former restaurant manager Sarah Feehan, who went on to start her own wine label, Parley, with friends Mel Gray (who she met while picking fruit at Commune of Buttons) and Jocelyn Mihalynuk (who worked at the Aristologist cellar door).
Sarah Feehan, former restaurant manager

The great garlic shortage also stuck with Eadie, who decided to write a haiku about it.
Ethan Eadie, co-head chef, 2019-2022
The highs and lows of The Patch also remain with chef Jude Hughes – who steered the kitchen with Calum Horn after Campbell and Eadie’s departures – before he and Horn went on to cook at Longplay.
Jude Hughes
Calum Horn
The dining moments – enough to reduce some to tears – were memorable on their own, but they’re difficult to separate from the care and cultivation that preceded them.
Katie Spain, writer
Co-owners and winemakers Anton van Klopper, Jasper Button and Aaron Fenwick were a dream team of sorts, and their commitment to the natural wine scene was unwavering. The super lo-fi approach wasn’t a hit with every diner, but that was part of the appeal. I loved watching diners’ faces as wine was poured and reactions rippled across the tree house of a space.
The conversations that flowed over tumblers of natty unicorns were equally challenging and important. The Summertown Aristologist challenged the public at a time when we needed it. Chefs came and went, but the synergy between the wine and the menu was always seamless.
Speaking of those Mark Kamleh-led dance floors, one Covid-era boogie will remain in mind for many. Not least because his DJ booth was a 1994 Ford Capri.
Mark Kamleh
One of the officers said they got a noise complaint; out of politeness I lowered the volume. I checked my watch, five minutes before 10pm. I thought that noise complaints only matter after 10pm, so I questioned the officer about it. He said I was right. I politely asked to put the volume up and promised to turn it off at 10pm. The officers accepted and I turned up the volume. The crowd thought I was defying police orders as I blasted Madonna's Like a Prayer while their red and blue disco lights lit the dance floor for another five minutes.
Max Veenhuyzen
Whether it’s chefs gathering wild garlic off the side of the road or the space doubling as the cellar door for local vignerons and Risty owners Aaron (Chateau Comme Ci Comme Ca), Anton (Lucy M) and Jasper (Commune of Buttons), team Aristologist proudly leveraged its home court advantage and we were the winners.
The Risty is a restaurant that could only exist in Summertown. The Adelaide Hills are part of the Aristologist, and the Aristologist is part of the Adelaide Hills. And once the doors close on this brilliant, thrilling and heartfelt space, those Hills will no doubt feel a little less alive. I guess it’s up to us to make sure we send off the Risty good and proper.*
Feehan
Lots of love to Anton, Jasper and Aaron – they really gave each of us so much space to make our own little mark on the place. And to everyone who made the Risty such an institution: the team, the locals, the winemakers and the farmers. A restaurant is a living organism and so many beautiful people brought it to life every day.
Campbell
Olivia Moore, Loc
Edwards
