SA’s top chefs say fine dining is no longer sustainable in Adelaide

As the “world’s best” restaurant – Noma in Copenhagen – announces its closure, Adelaide chefs say the future of fine dining in SA is also looking tough.

Fine dining in South Australia will be an “increasingly niche offering” as heightened food costs and labour shortages present ongoing challenges for the industry.

In light of the announcement world’s best restaurant Noma in Copenhagen will close its doors for good at the end of 2024, Adelaide chefs and restaurateurs say traditional fine dining – with its gruelling hours and high cost – is no longer sustainable.

Lenzerheide Restaurant in Hawthorn, known for its silver service since 1989, is looking into share-style plates in response to consumer demand, while for other venues, having a complementary offering such as accommodation is critical to longevity.

Brendan Wessels, who led the kitchen at the cutting edge d’Arenberg Cube Restaurant prior to its closure in 2020 and now at city restaurant Aurora where he trains future chefs, says for the most part, fine dining is “just not economically viable”.

“It’s the labour involved to produce those dishes; it’s too high,” he said. “The market has dropped significantly; restaurants are really struggling … people are a lot more frugal with their money.

Rene Redzepi of “world’s best” restaurant Noma. Picture: Supplied

“Is there still a place for fine dining? Yes, absolutely, although in vastly diminished numbers. It’s going to be an increasingly niche offering.”

Wessels names the Cube, where he worked with his chef wife Lindsay Durr, as where he produced his best culinary work. Items on the menu included a sphere of foie gras, transformed to look like a grape in a tawny port skin; campfire “coals” filled with barramundi and smeared with Vegemite mayo; and Italian meringue etched out to look like a honeycomb by a 3D food printer.

“Working at that level takes a lot out of you and you need to be prepared to constantly sacrifice everything,” Wessels says, referring to those capable of working at the top as, “the one percenters”. “To work 60-70 hours under enormous pressure … constant panic to always get it done and it has got to be f*****g perfect. There is a very small portion of society that would embrace that.

“There’s been a social shift in the psyche of our industry – the days we worked in those … environments is by large over.”

The Cube is one of various fine dining restaurants to have closed in metropolitan Adelaide in recent years. Others include Jock Zonfrillo’s Orana, in Rundle St; Chloe’s Restaurant in Kent Town and Auge in Grote St.

Brendan Wessels, who led the kitchen at the cutting edge d’Arenberg Cube Restaurant. Picture: Network Ten / Dylan Coker

Maxwell Wines executive chef Fabian Lehmann with his abalone dish. Picture: Tom Huntley

Mt Lofty House owner David Horbelt said the property’s accommodation was a key part of the sustainability of its on-site fine dining restaurant, Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant. Guests account for half of the restaurant’s trade.

“It is very hard for a restaurant in that space to survive if that (food) is their only offering,” Mr Horbelt said. “Restaurant Botanic were very fortunate to be voted the best restaurant in SA and Australia (by delicious. and Gourmet Traveller respectively) and that would have helped considerably with keeping them viable. But if you don’t have that kind of recognition, it’s a very tough gig.

“I think the fine dining restaurants that do have longevity are the ones associated with other offerings.”

Winery restaurants Magill Estate Restaurant, which also has a casual offshoot, Magill Estate Kitchen, as well as Hentley Farm are among those which offer extra experiences, Mr Horbert said.

Another is Maxwell, situated in the Maxwell cellar door in McLaren Vale. There, executive chef Fabian Lehmann says there will always be a place for fine dining, but admits the industry is “hard” and that restaurants must adapt.

“The problem with fine dining is it’s always labour intensive,” he says. “Whereas back in the day there used to be 20 chefs in the kitchen to facilitate a 50-seat restaurant, now it’s six chefs to do the same job.

“So restaurants, they’re changing their recipes, they’re changing their opening times, they’re

changing what they charge per person, they’re just trying to make it work for everyone. With the staff shortage going on (you must) evolve.

“The old way of fine dining is not sustainable anymore, which is having 20 chefs, working 80 hours; 40 of them for free. It’s outdated and it’s wrong.”

Lenzerheide co-owner and chef Tim Pearson has worked at the restaurant since 2001, and says he has seen dining habits change over the years. But his clientele hasn’t dropped.

The restaurant is now looking to update its menu to include share-style plates.

“People are eating in different ways, it used to be the traditional sit-down three-course meal, evolving to degustation and now it’s gone to share-plate style,” he said.

“I think there’s always a place for fine dining, I really do. A place for that level of service, because people like to be looked after and to be doted over.”

Mr Wessels said the fine dining restaurants that survive, will thrive.

“I think it’s good in a way because it allows practitioners who are very focused on their product and those who deliver consistently … to go forward to the apex of the industry. But it does create a schism between that echelon and the ones below it. The operators who

haven’t nailed the mark are going to be faced with a challenging decision of what the

next incarnation of their business looks like.”