Terroir review, Clare Valley best restaurants | delicious.SA: Regional 50

At Terroir, produce is sourced from as close as possible. Everything is made from scratch. Beasts, birds and fish are brought in whole and nothing is wasted.

Beef and ale pie at Terroir, Auburn, Clare Valley

21 Main North Rd, Auburn

[phone]

terroirauburn.com.au

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It’s a good time to believe in karma – that fortune will favour decent people and charitable deeds will be reciprocated in the end.

Take the story of Terroir’s Dan and Annika Moss who, at the start of the COVID-19 lockdown, contemplated a full fridge and an empty restaurant and decided to cook a weekly meal for the community of their little township of Auburn and give it away for free. Spirits were lifted immeasurably all round.

Fast-forward to a Wednesday evening and Terroir is back in business. Tables are filled over two sittings. It is Local Appreciation Night, a longstanding concept that still upholds the same ethos that Dan has stuck by since he opened Terroir in 2012.

Produce is sourced from as close as possible. Everything is made from scratch. Beasts, birds and fish are brought in whole and nothing is wasted.

So the “fish fingers” are croquettes of monkfish offcuts and potato, rolled into a cylinder, crumbed and fried. Steak trimmings are transformed Cinderella-style into a majestic beef and ale pie with a peppered pea puree and celeriac remoulade.

Roasted pork scotch works wonders when smeared in harissa and teamed with a laksa-inspired pumpkin sauce. To finish, a block of vanilla parfait is sprinkled with crumbled honey comb and a dukkah-style mix of spices, nuts and seeds.

At other sittings, more prime cuts are used and the cooking might be more sophisticated, but the philosophy remains the same in dishes such as fried gnocchi with brussels sprouts and hazelnut praline or roasted barramundi fillet in a prawn bisque sauce.

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• Hours: D Wed-Sun 
• Bill: Three courses $65, Four courses $75
• Wine: Wine list
• Chef: Dan Moss