Leonard’s Mill review, Fleurieu best restaurants | delicious.SA: Regional 50

Despite a regular turnover of talented chefs, there is a consistency of high-end style at this charming restaurant.

Beef tartare at Leonard's Mill in Second Valley.

7869 Main South Rd, Second Valley

[phone]

leonardsmill.com.au

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Despite a regular turnover of talented chefs, not unusual in an isolated regional area, there is a consistency of high-end style at this charming restaurant.

Owners Iain and Hayley Calvert have managed to attract well-known chefs to the fold, from Matt Fitton to the current incumbent Jamie Steele, who is staying until Stephen Goossens can make the move from equally high-end kitchens in Victoria.

Each chef has reflected the Calverts’ penchant for food of substance gleaned from all-local producers, mainly family operators.

In these times, the structure is two to three courses at set prices, or feed-me menus. On Wednesdays, it’s lunch platters, each a generous spread showcasing those local heroes.

The entrees and desserts are Instagram stars, with thoughtful and heartier mains leaning to rustic.

We love the deliciously fatty wagyu tataki that supports newcomers building a 100 per cent wagyu herd in the Hindmarsh Valley.

Expect innovative food to continue, and some ingredients you might not have experienced before, such as skirret, a rare perennial root vegetable grown by the young farmers at Dancing Waters farm in Tooperang. A unique mix of skirret with stinging nettle puree and liquorice crumb, or similar, is bound to stay.

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• Hours: L Wed-Sun D Fri-Sat 
• Bill: Two or three courses, L $60-$75, feed me $85 D $60-$75, feed me $95
• Wine: Wine list
• Chef: Stephen Goossens