The Line & Label restaurant opens at Peter Teakle Wines in Port Lincoln

A newly opened elite-level restaurant at the Port Lincoln winery owned by local businessman Peter Teakle will use only produce from the Eyre Peninsula, a principle that means it will not have chicken or duck on its first menu.

The Line & Label restaurant, Port Lincoln

NEW elite-level restaurant at the Port Lincoln winery owned by local businessman Peter Teakle will use only produce from the Eyre Peninsula, a principle that means it will not have chicken or duck on its first menu.

The Line & Label was officially opened last night, revealing for the first time the astonishing craftsmanship of its fitout that includes 2.7km of hand-cut American oak in its ceiling and 19,403 pieces of bluestone, including a floor-to-ceiling fireplace.

“A lot of people have likened it to a soulful ski lodge,” says project manager Diana Williams.

The restaurant sits only 2km from Port Lincoln’s foreshore but the setting feels quite rural, Diana says.

Grilled King George Whiting, sauce vierge at The Line & Label, Port Lincoln

“On the western side it looks over the vineyard. Then there are sweeping lawns and an orchard on the north. And on the east there are views over Boston Bay.”

Celebrity chef Pete Evans acted as a consultant on the project, designing the kitchen and helping to recruit executive chef Josh Harris from Asana restaurant in Brisbane.

Josh has spent two weeks touring the region, meeting as many producers as he can.

“We want to be a gathering place to enjoy the finest local produce,” Diana says. “If it’s not farmed, fished or harvested from here it hasn’t made the menu. For example there is no chicken or duck on the first menu because those products aren’t available. And I need to encourage someone to start making cheese.”

The bar at The Line & Label, Port Lincoln

Instead, Josh will be tapping into the seafood bounty available from the local waters, including sea urchin, octopus and ocean jacket cheeks and snout. Bycatch species from local fishermen will go straight on to the menu when available.

Other dishes will include Boston Bay pork chop with preserved lemon and capers, as well as rib eye with bone marrow and shiraz jus.

Forty garden beds and an orchard on site will provide much of the restaurant’s fruit and veg, as well as growing such rare ingredients as horseradish and wasabi.

An extensive cellar starts with the house label and taps into the owner’s relationships with wineries around the state through his former Collotype Labels business.

The Line & Label, Peter Teakle Wines, 31 Whillas Rd, Port Lincoln, 8682 6635. Open Thu-Sun. Bookings: thelineandlabel.com.au