SA Weekend restaurant review - Bloom on the River Torrens

A new cafe in a dreamy setting on the banks of the River Torrens is perfectly pitched for the way we eat now, writes Simon Wilkinson.

Bar and hearth at Bloom, Thebarton. Picture: Kelsey Zafiridis

It’s a sizzling afternoon and the cool kids gathered under the gums on the bank of the River Torrens are drinking jugs of spritz and beer from clear glass bottles.
 They could be part of a commercial shoot for any number of trendy beverages. Just not for the red cans that are produced in the brewery next door.

If ever the executives from our ill-fated SA Brewery want an insight into why their sales might be struggling, they need only look to the converted tram barn over their back gate.

That is where you will find Bloom, a remarkable, multifaceted daytime cafe and function space that is a standard-bearer for the way we eat and drink today.

Put together a checklist of dining trends and Bloom is on the money, from the open fire that leaves a scorched trail across lunch dishes, to the brilliant selection of sides that can easily be made into a veg-loaded meal.

And while West End is poured from one of the taps, it is competing with Little Creatures, Pirate Life and other crafty types.

Bloom is the second and far more elaborate project from the team behind Peter Rabbit, the whimsical eatery that has grown out of a shipping container and patch of lawn in the uni precinct on Hindley Street.

Selection of dishes at Bloom, Thebarton. Picture: Kelsey Zafiridis

Both have a strong garden theme but, where the original has come together in homespun bits and pieces, Bloom shows what can be done with more space, a strong vision and a vastly superior budget.

Hotshot designers Sans Arc have taken this industrial-scale shed, stripped it clean and created a space that feels somewhere between chapel and conservatory.

Skylight panels run along the peak of a pitched roof that has been painted pale green. Soft curves and arches are used everywhere from the niches in the white stucco walls, to the timber-clad bar and the dome of the brick-lined hearth that is fitted out with adjustable grills.

A new pavilion keeps the same roofline and opens out to the riverbank, patio and garden. Given the right conditions, it’s easy to imagine lazing around here most of the day.

The Bloom team certainly encourages such indolence with a menu that dismisses all notion of clock watching.

Everything, even the feed-me selection, is available from first thing and it won’t only be those suffering from a particularly rugged night out who can see the attraction of a crusty Soi Boii baguette stuffed with porky meatballs in a rich tomato and blue cheese sauce at 8am.

Wood-grilled haloumi and cucumber salad at Bloom, Thebarton. Picture: Kelsey Zafiridis

However, it’s a whole grilled trout with mixed pickles, aioli and bread that says all you need to know about Bloom. I can’t think of a plate more in tune with a sunny afternoon. The fish is perfect – skin blistered and chewy, peeling back to reveal lustrous, pale pink flesh that slips easily off the back and rib bones. Break off a chunk of the roll, load it with meat, a strip of skin, choice of pickle (sweeter beet or tart green tomato) and a blob of mayo. Repeat until all that is left is a cleanly picked skeleton.

While that fish easily feeds two, the sides are impossible to ignore. The best of them have a Mediterranean feel. Wood-grilled haloumi looks like it has spent summer under the Santorini sun and has a sweet-sour topping of honey, sumac, pine nuts and fresh thyme leaves.

An aged basmati rice pilau is loaded with sultanas, strands of candied carrot and smoky scorched pistachios, a combination that wouldn’t be out of place at Afghani favourite Parwana.

Whole eggplant has been roasted/smoked slowly above the fire before being cut down the middle to expose its gooey, soft belly. It is laid on a thin smear of tahini and then blanketed in a green tomato and herb puree.

Only a salad of cucumber ribbons and slices of apple in a pool of black vinegar dressing feels out of place, and not just because of its different origins.

Even dessert is flame-licked. Wood-roasted strawberries are red and black like a Bombers guernsey but that burnt jam flavour won’t suit all tastes. They come with a tangy lemon yoghurt sorbet.

In a year of constant challenge and relatively few openings, Bloom has so many things right.

The food, the service and the setting are all perfectly pitched. It’s a breath of fresh air – especially for those lucky enough to be cavorting on the river bank.