SOUTH AUSTRALIA
STATE WINNER
Restaurant Botanic
AUSTRALIAN
Plane Tree Dr (via Friends’ Gate), Adelaide
(08) 8223 3526
Chef Justin James
Price guide $$$$
Bookings Essential
Wheelchair access Yes
Open Lunch Sun; Dinner Thu-Sat
There’s no ignoring Mother Nature when you’re literally surrounded by her. Towering plane trees lead the way to this world-class dining space in the Adelaide Botanic Garden. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer a view of the seasonally shifting landscape, but it’s hard to beat the vantage from the sleek, wraparound chef’s table. In the kitchen, chefs dip into jars of ferments and preserves used in non-alcoholic drinks and across the tasting menu. There’s drama in the presentation, too. Potato and caviar appear on a starburst of autumn leaves. Green ants tumble across fresh oysters. You’re even encouraged to lick the rock on which braised and grilled abalone rests. Fallen bunya-bunya branches collected from the garden are roasted, infused in cream and served frozen. Beverage director Marcell Kustos’s liquid finale is a garden liquor poured
