The Locavore Wine Bar & Restaurant

“It was when my partner Suzanne Pfitzner, 43, and I were in France, that I discovered I was a locavore,” says Chris March, 40.  It was 2005 and Sue wanted to have her fortieth in Paris. “You’re not considered a woman until you turn 40,” she told me.

That was reason enough for me.  Any culture that understood the intricacies of women and aging must also understand fine cuisine.

We stayed in a friend’s house in Paris from where we took short trips out to the French regions like Champagne where we drank champagne and discovered  the delights of Carbonnade de Boeuf (beef in onions and beer) and Chaource (mild cheese).  While in Normandy we reveled in the pleasures of the farm: camembert to accompany our main meal with Calvados (apple brandy), followed by Apple Tarte Tatin with rich, yellow cream.

My epiphany came when I listened to the proud way that the locals talked about their cuisine built around the food, wine and spirits produced in the region.  “Its fresh, seasonal and we do it best,” they told us. This was locavore cuisine.

When we returned to Australia I got to work, leasing a perfectly situated building in Stirling, in the heart of the South Australian Adelaide Hills.  Playing the name game helped to define our concept – no salty olive or spotted dick for us – we were ‘The Locavore’.  The name ticked all the boxes: locally produced, fresh, helps build community, feeds the spirit and nurtures the earth.

My business partner, Nathan Crudden, 46, and I opened the restaurant in 2007 in the same year that the term locavore was made the Oxford dictionary’s word of the year.  Nathan and I had a long history together in hospitality with a thirteen-year stint running the catering business ‘Are You Being Served?’.

But a locavore restaurant was an unusual concept for many people, and we knew our first job was to design a menu around our philosophy: to eat local – sourced within 160 kilometres – if not local then family business; if not family business then organic; if not organic then fair trade.  Everything on our menu needed a tick in one or more of those boxes.

“What about Coca Cola and Schweppes?” worried the front of house staff.  We hunted around and found Bickfords a local, family-owned business who could supply our soft drink needs, and we also found local sources of spirits and beer.

We decided that a tapas and wine bar would be a good way to introduce the concept of eating local produce. We challenged Ash, trained in classic cooking, to take up the challenge:  take the local, seasonal produce and develop dishes that will delight our patrons, satisfy our locavore checklist and perhaps change at a moments notice.  He developed sumptuous tapas treats like Coriole mixed olives with warm toast, Portabello Mushroom Pate with red onion jam  and Sheeps Milk Haloumi served on pepperberry bubaganoush.

Our patrons were a bit confused at first asking questions like, “how can we make a meal out of tapas?” So I’d suggest they try the Yaddah Yaddah platter – perfect for two people – they can select three of their favourite tapas, savouring the food along with locally produced wine.

The mains menu evolved along with our growing knowledge of fresh, local and seasonal produce, like Hand Rolled Gnocchi Pan fried with rocket and almond pesto or Woodside goats cheese to Coorong Angus Beef Fillet on oxtail and potato rosti with wilted spinach and mushroom ragu.

With its reputation for world-class wines, our patrons can enjoy the Adelaide Hills’ fruits of the harvest in red and white wines including new varieties like pinot gris, voignier, zinfandel and arneis.

When the local strawberry producer rings and says, “Our berries will be ready in two weeks,” we know that      Ash will combine other locally sourced ingredients like free-range eggs, with biodynamic cream and butter to honour this local, seasonal fruit with it’s own summer berry meringue.

When a local lady came into the restaurant and said, “I want to buy some of your Tumbeela native lemon myrtle tea,” I said, “Of course.” Then she said, ‘I’ll have six packets!”  Nathan and I looked at each other. We knew the locavore idea was about to grow.

After sampling supermarket food that’s packaged, irradiated, and often tastless, many people are becoming jaded and want to return to the more wholesome foods and ways of eating, socializing and sharing that our grandparents enjoyed.

“It could get bigger you know,” I said to Nathan. He nodded.  “Locavore providore?”
We both knew there was now story and substance in what we offered – a way to collectively renew our experience of food – and a delightful opportunity to nourish both ourselves and our planet.

Tagged as: Local produce, Locavore Wine Bar & Restaurant