South-west city spots My Kingdom For A Horse and Cafe Troppo have company.
Arbour Kitchen is now trading on the ground floor of the 22-storey Bohem apartments on Wright Street. One week in, “We’ve already got a couple of regulars from upstairs,” says front-of-house manager Damien Kammermann.
The daytime-only restaurant (it’s not a cafe, stresses Kammermann) is billed as “unashamedly South Australian”. And it’s not just a marketing ploy. Avocado isn’t on the menu – not smashed, or as a side. “We’re using SA produce and they’re not in season here,” says Kammermann.
Explaining the hyperlocal mission to diners is essential. “When we put down a dish we ... say where [the produce is] from,” he adds. Executive chef Brent Potuszynski wrote up a “food bible” for staff with each dish’s origins.
There’s Limestone Coast river trout (smoked and cured in-house), Port Lincoln mussels, Hay Valley Lamb, and more. “They all come from family-run businesses,” Potuszynski says. “I deal with the owner, who’s generally the one who farms the meat or harvests the fruit and veg.”
True to the restaurant’s name and greenery-laden fit-out, there’s a seven-item plant-based section available all day every day. Breakfast standouts include the “vegan farmers market” (there’s a meaty alternative for those so inclined) and scrambled curried tofu. Lunch is notably upmarket: Jerusalem artichoke veloute (a classic savoury French sauce) with wild mushrooms and crispy skins; rabbit tortellini; and a local-seafood-loaded bouillabaisse (fish stew).
On weekdays, breakfast is from 7am to 11.30am; lunch kicks in from midday to 3pm. There’s an all-day menu on weekends.
Local coffee roaster Bean Revolution has an Arbour-specific blend. “They came in with a handful of different roasts and I did a tasting,” says Kammermann. A single-origin Peruvian came up trumps. SA-made Bickford’s sodas stand in for their mass-produced counterparts; juices are squeezed to order.
Wines are “boutique-y, not too mainstream” and evolving. There are a few natural-leaning skin-contact varieties from Shobbrook and Jauma. The reds do well to represent the state’s diverse wine regions. Beers from Pirate Life, Prancing Pony and Pikes are in rotation. A brunch-suited cocktail list (shaken up with SA-only spirits) is in development.
Arbour Kitchen
152 Wright Street, Adelaide
Hours:
Mon to Sat 7am–3pm
Sun 8am–3pm
