Suite dreams — Put your bath robe on and dine ‘out’ in your suite at Sequoia at Mount Lofty House with food from Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant
Eating out may be back on the menu but who needs going out when you can put on your bath robe and dine in in style in your suite at Mount Lofty House with food from Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant, writes Simon Wilkinson.
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It has just ticked over two months since my last proper restaurant meal. I know this only after scrolling back through endless pics of food in plastic containers on my phone to find something resembling a plate.
Two months! That’s more than 60 lunches and 60 dinners.
Talk about going cold turkey.
The closing of the nation’s dining rooms, of course, is really only of critical importance to those poor sods who rely on them to make a living. For the rest of us it’s little more than an inconvenience but that doesn’t mean I don’t pine for the artistry of a topflight kitchen, the interactions with other adults, the buzz of a happy crowd and the indulgent pleasure of sitting back and letting someone else do all the work.
Dinner in a suite at Sequoia, a new development at Mount Lofty House might lack the energy of a bustling dining room, there are compensations – and then some.
The 14 new apartments, built in a row on an escarpment below the historic property, are rated six-stars, lavishly appointed and fully automated. You could be spending the night in Bill Gates’s guest room.
Opening the front door triggers the lights, gas fire and a huge blind that retracts to reveal a panorama of bush, vineyards and paddocks stretching across the Piccadilly Valley and all the way to Lenswood and Cudlee Creek.
A keypad can then be used to control everything from the music to different “scene” sequences for morning, night, “blackout” or watching the big-screen television that rises from a cabinet at the foot of the kingsize bed. The couch is leather, the timber and stone work around the fireplace superb. The bathroom features a deep tub for two and a panel of smart glass that can switch the view on and off.
Even without lockdown restrictions, I doubt you would want to leave all this behind to eat somewhere else – particularly when you can have dinner dressed in a bath robe, as a surprising number of guests apparently do.
English man-about-town Max Mason is lodge manager and, with his accent and easy banter, plays the role of Jeeves particularly well. Early in the evening, he comes in to set a small, round table by the window and discuss options for wine that includes dialling up a “virtual sommelier”, Liinaa Berry, to offer advice.
The three courses are prepared by Jin Choi and his team from highly rated Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant in their kitchen in the main house, and then transported down the hill in a golf cart fitted with a hotbox at the back.
Max and other umbrella-wielding waiters then run the cloche-covered plates to the different rooms and present them at the table.
The two choices of entree come from both ends of the spectrum. A wedge of crisp-skinned, pale pink ocean trout and sprigs of sea herbs are swamped in a white foam of cultured whey that looks as if it might have blown off a wave from a wild winter sea. The flavour is gentle, seasoning restrained.
Pork belly, on the other hand, takes no prisoners. A substantial block with a lid of crackling is accompanied by thick slices of smoked shiitake, baby cos leaves and a drizzle of an intense charcuterie jus. The mushroom is particularly good.
Mains also offer a pick between meat and fish. The beef compilation, a signature of HVR, pairs a puck of rosy-coloured, medium-rare strip loin with a piece of Mayura Station brisket that has been slow-cooked to the texture of a savoury fudge. Pearl onion halves have been braised until sweet, then left on the grill to blacken at the edges and bring back fond barbecue memories.
Barramundi fillet is partnered by an unusual cracker lined with a glossy sheet of kombu (seaweed) as well as sweet/sour pickled shiso leaves. Both barra and beef have a grilled scallop to the side.
Dessert brings the tried and true combination of chocolate and fruit. A dark choc mousse, the sweetness kept under tight rein, is surrounded by mixed berries and wedges of fig, while a fine, brittle wafer is balanced on top.
A small cheese plate is also included in the slim chance you become peckish between the bath and the bed. No paying the bill and heading out into the cold night. What was that about missing restaurants?
Simon Wilkinson was a guest of Mount Lofty House, mtloftyhouse.com.au/staycation