Fino Seppeltsfield | SA Weekend restaurant review

Excellent service, commitment to local and glorious poached figs – here’s what happens when highly-skilled chefs and their mentors come together. Book in for a dreamy lunch, stat.

Bar at Fino at Seppeltsfield, Barossa Valley.

Temptation comes in many forms. Adam had his apple. And it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that students of a certain age and disposition might find the projectile qualities and emphatic splat of the ripening figs on a certain schoolyard tree impossible to resist.

Fortunately, a teacher at said school is aware of this and takes the fruit from harm’s way. Even more fortunately, the nephew of said teacher happens to work in a local restaurant and can put this bounty to good use – poached using a recipe found in an old cookbook from the region.

Thus runs the introduction to a dessert of basque cheesecake, almond dacquoise and figs that completes a dreamy, sun-kissed luncheon in the palm-shaded courtyard of Fino at Seppeltsfield in the Barossa Valley.

Terrific stories – and terrific storytellers – have long been part of the Fino DNA, a final link in the chain that connects the diners with the produce and people of the community.

Tales of farmers and fishermen abounded in the original little cottage in Willunga, where chef David Swain’s understanding of the season and his surrounds was conveyed with such infectious delight by his co-owner and hospitality soulmate Sharon Romeo. Now the pair have two different restaurants to look after and, while they spend more time at Fino Vino in the city, their legacy is in the best of hands at Seppeltsfield.

Tables on the terrace at Fino at Seppeltsfield, Barossa Valley.

Front of house Mel Hamilton (nee Maschio) has long been a shining light of the Barossa and brings a blend of exuberance and customer-centric common sense that is not unlike Romeo.

Head chef Daniel Murphy, on the other hand, returns to a kitchen where he spent a few formative years and has been encouraged to stay true to the style of cooking he developed while in the top jobs at Appellation and, most recently, eleven. The Fino commitment to local and seasonal is still evident but these ingredients are now packaged with more of the exquisite sauces and broths that are the chef’s specialty.

A few untouchable signatures do remain on a menu that now has a minimum offering of three plates ($55) during the week and more at weekends. They include the opening salvo of a sourdough loaf and the “giardiniera” pickled vegetables that follow a recipe handed down from Romeo’s father.

Other parts are pure Murphy. Grilled Gawler River quail is marinated in a Malay-style marinade heavy with fragrant galangal and laid on a glossy dressing of smoked tomato and nori. The plate is finished with cherry tomato halves and fava bean sprigs, one of several sprouted leaves the chef raises at home.

Barramundi, sweet corn, green chilli at Fino at Seppeltsfield, Barossa Valley.

King prawns, XO butter at Fino at Seppeltsfield, Barossa Valley.

An XO sauce made from the dehydrated offcuts of last winter’s bluefin tuna is another step up in power and complexity. Mounted with butter, it provides an awesome orchestral backing track to butterflied king prawns that have been brushed with some of the unctuous juices from the heads as they grill in their shells.

The heavily charred skin of a piece of barramundi makes a black slash through the centre of a golden pond of juiced corn and butter. Corn kernels strips are on top, along with an imperceptible addition of jalapeno.

A lightly brined Hampshire pork loin is pretty in pink with grilled plum, a fermented plum sauce, mustard seeds and pickled onion. But considering the pedigree of the meat, the flavour beyond the rim of fat is surprisingly neutral.

Finally, those figs poached in a ginger syrup prove to be more than a good talking point, their sweet spice an inspired choice beside the richness of the blackened cheesecake.

On one level, Seppelstfield is a different proposition to the other Finos, past and present. The historic property is vast and hosts a more diverse, less food-absorbed audience (tour groups included). Dig deeper, however, and with this highly skilled pair and their mentors working hand-in-hand, the spirit is still strong. And that’s the real story.

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