Many of us have a love-hate relationship with our home state. There’s a nostalgic attachment, sure, but there’s also the nagging idea that you might be happier somewhere else. Kane Pollard has none of those conflicts. In fact, the star chef, sustainability advocate and Tasting Australia food curator has nothing but love for the simple pleasures of life in South Australia.
This devotion is in his DNA. The Pollard family has farmed land in Summertown and Uraidla, in the Adelaide Hills, for three generations, growing cabbages, rhubarb and other vegetables.
Pollard worked in his family’s gardens as a schoolboy to make a little pocket money. Reflecting on it now, he says, “It’s hard not to get wrapped up in the feeling of being out in the fresh air with your hand in the dirt, pulling stinging nettles from the ground or planting seeds in the rich Adelaide Hills soil. Those moments, alongside going to the fruit and veg shop with my mum as a child, is what made me believe that living locally and seasonally was really the only option.”
That love of simple living was reinforced by school holidays spent with his dad, who lived in Beachport on the Limestone Coast. “That’s when I really started to click with the area and realise how incredible living by the beach was,” says Pollard. “We never watched TV – we were always out fishing, crabbing, bodyboarding and swimming.”
Pollard also got his first hospitality job at the local pub in Beachport. He was a kitchenhand and manned the salad section. He credits the owner with teaching him to “take pride in even the simplest things, like keeping your section tidy and making sure the salads were always fresh, well-seasoned and beautifully presented”.
Looking back, Pollard says it was these early experiences that led him to become a leader in the slow food movement – a philosophy he describes as “very much about connection, living seasonally, supporting those around you and doing good by the planet. It brings new awareness to the beauty of food, from connecting with the grower to prepping, cooking, and ultimately enjoying a meal that supports everyone and everything around you.”
Pollard has championed this philosophy at his Adelaide Hills eateries Topiary and Ondeen, and at his roving pop-up, Place, where he only uses South Australian produce. Favourite suppliers at the moment include Good Country Hemp, on the Limestone Coast; Urban Grow Boi, an Adelaide Hills neighbour growing heritage-variety veggies that are “full of flavour and beautiful to look at”; and Hidden Valley Eggs, “a small family business doing things in a very mindful way”. Intentional, hyperlocal operations like these “are hard to beat in terms of quality and care”.
There are plenty more South Australian gems at local farmers markets. These are “the best places to go to learn more and meet the faces behind the produce”, Pollard says. “We go to Adelaide Showground Farmers Market each Sunday, where you’ll find producers like San Jose Smallgoods, Patlin Gardens and Presqil Farm, Bull Creek pies, Lilyarra cheese, Nomad Farms. [They’re all] strong advocates of supporting local and producing artisanal produce with passion and meaning.”
Or you can catch the beauty of the state on a plate at one of its many sustainable, community-minded bars and restaurants. Among Pollard’s recommendations are Tom Tilbury’s Botanic Lodge, where ingredients are foraged on-site at the Adelaide Botanic Garden; Thelma, where the menu is determined by what’s available at the family’s nearby market garden, Presqil; and Fleurieu kiosk Kuti Shack, where the seafood comes from local waters at Goolwa, and produce such as saltbush and samphire is foraged from the surrounding dunes.
By paying close attention to their local landscapes and communities, these kinds of venues – “places that source from fantastic local growers, and cook and serve with meaning” – capture something essential about South Australia. To understand what makes it such a fulfilling place to be, you need look no further than what comes out of the earth.
This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with the South Australian Tourism Commission.
