5 most of SA’s most unusual and exclusive dining experiences

From a “secret pasta club” to a hidden villa with a waitlist of thousands, we reveal the best, most exclusive dining experiences in the state.

They’re chefs breaking away from the challenges and constraints of traditional restaurants, and in the process creating some of the best dining experiences in South Australia.

From Andre Ursini, whose Villetta Porcini in Mylor could be the state’s most exclusive dining destination, to Kane Pollard, whose new roving Place concept will take diners to secret locations across land and coast, they’re creatives carving out a new way to eat.

Pollard, who has been running top 10 to delicious. 100 restaurant Topiary for just over a decade, said the Covid-19 pandemic made his team rethink its direction.

“The price rises on products, new delivery fees, wages and superannuation, through to the CPI increase resulting in a huge rise in the lease and energy costs, means you need to start thinking outside the box to survive,” Pollard, 37, says.

“And often, as a chef, some of the best ideas and moments are created when you’re put under such intense pressure.”

Chef Kane Pollard launches Place in spring, which will take diners to locations such as Kuitpo Forest. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Pollard will host his first Place in spring, inviting 55 diners to travel to an undisclosed location while chefs prepare dishes in the open air. Long tables will weave through an iconic South Australian landscape.

“We say ‘sense of place’ fairly loosely these days,” Pollard says. “When you’re actually in the location, you’re feeling that cool breeze through the forest trees, hearing the crackling of the fire and getting that smokiness … your senses are more alive and it (food) tastes better.”

Keen diners will have to join a waitlist for tickets – a method Ursini has been using at his Villetta Porcini since its inception at the end of 2019, which coincided with his closing of popular city restaurant, Andre’s Cucina & Polenta Bar.

Described on its Instagram page as a “hidden culinary experience set in eight hectares of forest, gardens, butterflies and mycelium”, those wanting to dine at Villetta Porcini must register interest via email.

There are currently thousands on his waitlist.

“It’s a passion project,” says Ursini.

“By creating experience-based hospitality, there is no point of reference. Often diners come into a restaurant and they’re quite rigid; they need their drink and their food in front of them and the noise needs to be perfect … you have to work really hard in inner-city hospitality to have that impression.

“But if you create a unique environment that’s not four walls, that’s magic. I think that’s why you’re seeing a pursuit of it.”

Here are the five most exciting – and exclusive – dining experiences in South Australia right now:

PLACE

by Kane Pollard placedining.com.au

Kane Pollard was combing the Adelaide Hills for porcini mushrooms and picking wild herbs well before “foraging” became a culinary buzzword. Forever passionate about South Australian produce and a pioneer in root-to-stem cooking, Pollard’s soon-to-launch Place concept will take diners to iconic landscapes across forests, rivers, coasts, hills and plains. Join the waitlist via the website.

Chef Kane Pollard prepares a dish in the middle of Kuitpo Forest. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

SECRET PASTA CLUB

by Jimmy Toone and Jo Leal Instagram: @secret.pasta.club

Shhh. The Salopian Inn head chef Jimmy Toone and his partner Jo Leal are serving up some drool-worthy pasta for a limited number of diners each month – but you’ll have to follow them on Instagram to find out where there’ll be next. Following the success of their Secret Pizza Club, the carb-loving pair have just launched a pasta version, which will take place at venues such as Fall From Grace and Muni in Willunga. At $60 for three courses, it’s an accessible option for food loving folk – provided you’re one of the 40 to secure a booking via Instagram DM. “It’s being able to set your own boundaries of what you want to do and offer, rather than being locked into offering a large a la carte menu,” Toone says of the appeal of such a dining concept. “It also creates a unique, one-off experience for people.”

The Secret Pasta Club’s menu.

Pumpking and brown butter cappelletti.

VILLETTA PORCINI

by Andre Ursini Instagram: @vporcini

With thousands already on the waitlist, getting into Villetta Porcini is almost impossible. It’s not a restaurant, but an opportunity to join Ursini at a place that’s close to his heart; enjoy local produce and go on whatever adventure that may present itself. “It’s ambiguous and it’s vague and it’s on purpose,” Ursini says. “The application relies on my schedule, so it’s so minuscule, I steer away from doing publicity.” A more accessible alternative is Ursini and chef Will Doak’s Lost Phoenix Farm in Hindmarsh Valley. “You’re sitting there eating decent food with a bottle of chablis overlooking some cows and rolling hills,” he says. “In SA it breaks the mould to some extent.”

Andre Ursini at his Villetta Porcini in Mylor ahead of its launch in 2019. Picture: Kelly Barnes

GATHER

by Tom Tilbury gatherfoodexperiences.com.au

Former Press* Food and Wine chef Tom Tilbury’s creative drive has seen him juggle restaurant kitchens with his side business, Gather, where he creates bespoke private dining experiences.

“We go in people’s houses, set up a table, write a specific menu that fits their occasion and night and create something really special,” says Tilbury, 38. “That’s sort of my way of treating people.” The concept also circumvents the current hospitality staffing crisis. “It’s very much one-man band situation, and bringing temp agency servers,” he says. “It creates a bit of freedom and is a chance to be creative.”

Chef Tom Tilbury hosts tailored dining experiences through his Gather business. Picture: Tom Huntley

ENCHANTED FIG TREE

by Gastronomo Dining gastronomodining.com.au

Kangaroo Island chefs Sasha Sachs and Rachel Hannaford saw the potential in experiential dining when they launched their Enchanted Fig Tree concept in 2016. Ursini recalls an early conversation with Sachs, in which she told him, “experience-based hospitality is the way of the future”. “I don’t really remember what the food was like in there, but I remember that there is nothing comparable to sitting in a 100-year-old fig tree,” he says. Bookings are taken via the website.

Lunch at the Enchanted Fig Tree in Snellings Beach, Kangaroo Island. Picture: SATC