Africola’sDUNCANWELGEMOEDshareshistoptips
for eating and drinking in the South Australian capital.A CHEF’SGUIDETO...
Adelaide, Australia
A
fricola,an“African-ish”restaurantinthe
eastendofAdelaide,is a riotofcolour,
soundandflavour.Atitsheart:Duncan
Welgemoed,a toweringSouthAfrican-
turned-SouthAustralianthat’smadea nameforhimself
withbold,wildlydeliciousdisheslikechickenskin
sandwichesandwhole-roastedcauliflower.He’sa regular
at eventsandrestaurantsaroundAustraliaandthe
world,butAdelaide– anditstreasuryofsingularbars
andeateries– is hishappyplace.Asheandhispeers
navigatelifepost-coronavirus,he’soptimisticthatthe
diningsceneinthelittle-capital-that-couldwillcontinue
tocommandinternationalattention.“We’reoneofthe
firstplacesontheplanetthat’sreopeningproperlysoI
cansayprettyconfidentlywe’llbea benchmarkforhow
that’s done and what it means, moving forward, tobe
a restaurant,”saysWelgemoedwho
willbereleasinghisdebutcookbook
inlate2020.“Everyone’seyes
willbeonSouthAustraliaand
Adelaide.Becausethere’sa small
country-townmentalityhere,the
communityis reallystrongand
everyoneis supportingeachother.”An introduction
Adelaide’sdiningsceneis
consistentlygood.It’sa smallercity
thanSydneyorMelbourne,butI
wouldsaythediningdemographic
is a lotmoresophisticated.You’ve
got a lot of farmers. You’ve got alotofwinemakers.You’vegota lot
ofpeoplethattravelheaps.They
recognisegoodproduce,goodbooze
andgoodfood.Toconvincethemto
dinein yourestablishment,you’ve
gottooffera reallygreatproduct.You
can’trestonyourlaurelsin this town.Hot newthing
LeighStreetWineRoomis a wine
barservingon-pointsmalldishes
andanincrediblewinelistofhard-
to-findminimalinterventionand
natural-leaningwines.Thatmarried
withwhatNathanSasiis doing
in the kitchen and Sali (Nathan’s