Restaurant review: Staguni in the Barossa
A former primary school has been transformed into a delightful, delicious new restaurant that is well worth the drive out to the wine region.
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What can handwriting tell you about a person’s character? In the case of chef Clare Falzon, that perfectly formed cursive penwork surely signifies someone of great precision, someone of patience, someone not given to accepting half-measures. Someone who would have been awarded multiple gold stars in grade four.
Falzon’s beautifully transcribed menu and wine list are two of the little details helping to create a dining experience full of personal touches and special storylines at her new Barossa restaurant Staguni.
They also fit neatly with its setting, part of the Marananga Primary School, opened in 1922 and now, after years of neglect, reborn as a hub of food, drinks and other like-minded local businesses.
Staguni has taken over an old red-brick classroom still sporting the tall sash windows made with a restricted opening at the bottom, presumably to stop pupils escaping. A dark hardwood floor is covered in the scrapes and scratches of chairs being dragged into place, while a large chalkboard now details wines available by the glass. You half expect to find an ancient chewie stuck beneath “desks” that are covered in lengths of linen Falzon hemmed herself.
However, it is in the kitchen that Falzon has made her name, a reputation built just up the road and around the corner at the much-lauded Hentley Farm where she was promoted to take charge when founding chef Lachlan Colwill departed.
After more than five years in the spotlight, Falzon left Hentley and took a gap year of temporary roles while she worked on a location and concept for a place of her own.
A serendipitous meeting put her in contact with the developers of the school, the same people who have turned an old farmhouse nearby into the Wonderground gallery and cellar door.
Staguni is not fine dining, in the complex/demanding/expensive sense, far from it. Falzon wants to create a venue that is accessible to everyone, particularly those from the surrounding community, while still providing a high calibre of service – and her accomplished staff more than deliver.
On the food side, she instinctively leans towards her Maltese heritage and the Mediterranean island’s influences from northern Africa, the Middle East, Italy and the rest of southern Europe.
So crisp-topped, airy focaccia comes with a loose tomato, caper and olive oil salsa inspired by the traditional Maltese “hobz biz-zejt”.
Crudites with a cream-based dip is the one doff-of-the-cap to the years at Hentley, where it was a menu fixture. This time, however, Falzon is using soured cream spiked with mustard and sprinkled with ground coriander seed.
Other than steamed potato, the veg is raw with wedges of kohlrabi, scrubbed carrots, radicchio and fresh-as-the-morning lettuce all sourced nearby.
The same goes for white zucchini that are cut into chunky pieces, coated in spiced flour and fried until just tender. A dusting of tangy ground sumac, a squeeze of lemon, a countering drizzle of honey and a dollop of labneh all play along but it is the unsung Peter Parker of veggies that remains the true hero.
The KISS formula also does wonders for a fillet of nannygai fried in brown butter. Seasonal greens including snow peas, beans and mixed herbs are given similar treatment, while surprise pops of preserved lemon rind are as welcome as a summer sea breeze.
Just when you are getting comfortable, a punchy chicken salad is an unexpected outlier to the Mediterranean flavours. Pieces of poached chook thigh, batons of fresh cucumber (plus some also cured), half a boiled egg and fried breadcrumbs are tossed in a chilli dressing with an intriguing buzz of Szechuan pepper. It could easily stand alone as a light lunch option.
Along with dessert, of course. Particularly when a few kind locals have dropped in a supply of figs that are cooked down until sweet and jammy to use in a frozen yoghurt parfait crowned with ruffled filo folds concealing toasted walnuts. Two syrups – one from the figs, the other lemon thyme – add different nuances to a combination that receives top marks all around.
Staguni only opens for a set-menu dinner on Thursday night and four lunch services (Fri-Mon), part of Falzon’s push to make working life sustainable for all concerned.
It also allows her time to make sure everything is just so. No half measures, remember.
Marananga School, 457 Seppeltsfield Rd, Marananga
0401 943 223
staguni.com.au
Main courses $28-$75
Open
Lunch Fri-Mon
Dinner Thu
Must try
Zucchini, sumac, honey; Fig frozen yoghurt, walnut filo
VERDICT
Food 16/20
Ambience 16/20
Service 16/20
Value 15/20
Overall 16/20
As a guide, scores indicate:
1-9 Fail; 10-11 Satisfactory;
12-14 Recommended; 15-16 Very Good; 17-18 Outstanding;
19-20 World Class
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