Where Chefs Eat: Kane Pollard Loves the Hills but His Go-To Spots Span the Whole State

Kane Pollard’s career was practically written in the stars. He was born into the Adelaide Hills food scene. His family had market gardens and Pollard grew up gardening, fishing and learning about sustainably grown and caught produce.

Now, Pollard is one of South Australia’s most respected chefs. He’s a leader of the sustainable food movement and chef leader of Slow Food. His two restaurants – the criminally underrated Topiary and promising newcomer Ondeen – are two of the city’s best.

We spoke to the chef about his favourite pub feeds, on-the-go meals and the one Adelaide farm he’s dying to get more produce from.

We currently live in the Hills, and the Charleston Hotel does a mean takeaway pub meal. Locally sourced meats are used to create pub classics, my favourite being The Whaley, which is a chicken schnitzel topped with onion rings, sweet chilli sauce, cheese, and sour cream. We often pick it up and eat at the local park with the kids.

Usually, a banh mi from Banh Mi K on Lower North East Road is my go-to. The chilli always seems to be at either the top or the bottom of the roll, which keeps life interesting!

Sitting at the Fair Seafood bar at Adelaide Central Market to enjoy a round of oysters is always a great choice. The Bloody-Mary-dressed oysters I had the other day were off the charts.

I’m way past that point in my life but date night at Loc Bottle Bar is a big winner. They source the most outrageous sake, and always have a random lucky-dip chef preparing delicious plates that always hit the mark.

The last time we had an impromptu celebration, we went to La Louisiane and enjoyed a bottle of champagne, the snails with vodka chaser and steak frites amongst some other plates. It was fantastic.

Mighty Mighty coffee up in Lobethal is fantastic. They roast on-site and serve with care every time.

It’s hard to beat The Salopian Inn for flavour, comfort, and freshness. I always leave it in the hands of the chefs, knowing that everything will be cooked perfectly, and the produce is super fresh and local.

A long table overlooking the city at The Scenic Hotel makes for a pretty spectacular gathering. Shared plates, delicious beers, fresh air – great combo.

It would have to be Silo in London. The work Douglas McMaster has done around creating a zero-waste restaurant is remarkable. The restaurant’s endless pursuit of more sustainable and delicious ways to produce dishes has been a life highlight to watch.

I’m not much of a sweet tooth, but Bottega Gelateria at either Prospect or Henley always fills the void. I change up my order every time, but the best I’ve had so far was a rhubarb crumble gelato on a dark choc dipped cone.

Not necessarily hidden, but not in the midst of town, is La Popular Taqueria. Daniella and Kor have something pretty special going on there. The tortilla soup is the hidden gem of the menu.

At the moment it’s the zucchini blossom, ricotta gnudi and whey. It’s all my favourite things: cooking from scratch, seasonally driven and closed-loop. We make the cheese fresh, add a little flour and local parmesan, roll it into balls and encase them in zucchini flower petals. They’re served with the stamen, the grilled zucchini, and a cultured whey sauce.

I haven’t managed to get hold of much of their produce yet, but watching the Presqil Farm journey has been very inspiring. Regenerative farming methods, old-world varieties, it’s the sort of stuff that really gets chefs excited.

When Tasting Australia events finished late, we often ended up at Simon Taste on Market Street. The skewer selection, fried rice and a longneck of Tsingtao hit the mark when it’s late.

Pizza toasties for sure. Sourdough bread, cheese, tomato, salami, spring onion inside, a dipping sauce of mayo mixed with hot sauce if I’m really feeling it.

kanepollard.com.au
@chefkanepollard
@topiary_dining
@ondeen.farm