Top 20: We reveal the best 20 chefs in Adelaide
From creative young guns to seasoned chefs, here are the culinary creatives behind South Australia’s top 20 restaurants from the coveted delicious.100 list.
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They’re resetting the table of Adelaide’s dining scene, pushing restaurant boundaries and celebrating local produce with flair.
South Australia’s top 20 chefs – the culinary creatives behind the top 20 restaurants of the 2022 delicious.100 list – are a collection of young guns and seasoned kitchen stalwarts.
From American expat Justin James, who in 15 months created Australia’s Restaurant of the Year with his Restaurant Botanic, to self-taught cook Trinh Richards whose Vietnamese fare has people booking months in advance at The Little Rickshaw, there’s a tapestry of talent pushing out some of the most exciting food the city’s ever seen.
For chefs Mug Chen and Chia Wu, of 12-month-old Willunga wine bar restaurant, Muni, it was South Australia’s burgeoning food and wine scene that attracted them to the state.
Their approach to produce and cooking awarded them the Chefs to Watch title in the delicious.100.
“Covid caused us to rethink … about making something with more connection with the community,” Chen, 31, says.
The pair work with local producers and minimise waste. Squid, for example, stars in their signature dish, while its guts are made into a fermented garum sauce.
“It (the menu) kind of changes all the time, but it’s how we make everything valued, using every part,” Chen says.
Here are the chefs from the top 20 restaurants across South Australia.
JUSTIN JAMES
Restaurant Botanic
Age: 36
There are few chefs who’ve made such an immediate impact on Adelaide’s dining scene as American expat Justin James. At 36 years of age, he’s rattled pans at some of the world’s most celebrated restaurants – two former number 1s, Eleven Madison Park (New York) and Noma in Copenhagen, among them.
“I remember being in the 7th grade, and at a career’s day they asked, ‘what do you want to be?’” says James.
“I said, ‘I want to be a chef’.”
As a pre-teen, James was already cooking Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners for the family, and for friends who came over.
“I think I just liked food,” he chuckles.
“And using creativity. You have to use your mind to create, innovate, and use your hands. Then you get something that you can instantly share with somebody.”
It’s this creativity that James constantly draws upon to create his multi-course, four-hour tasting menu at Restaurant Botanic, which this year topped South Australia’s delicious.100, and was named Gourmet Traveller’s Restaurant of the Year. It’s quite the achievement, having only taken over the reins at the restaurant in 2021.
JAKE KELLIE
arkhé
Age: 31
You could say Jake Kellie is on fire. Born and bred in NSW’s central coast, he set the pace early in his career working alongside Heston Blumenthal (The Fat Duck, UK), Scott Pickett (Estelle, Melbourne) and Matt Moran (Aria, Sydney).
He then settled in for a few years with David Pynt at Burnt Ends in Singapore, one of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, where his burning love for cooking with flame grew.
In late 2021, he opened Adelaide’s first fire-fuelled restaurant, arkhé, in Norwood – and it’s fast become one of the hottest places to eat.
“Cooking on fire is never consistent,” he says.
“Every piece of wood can burn differently. You have to find your own knack for running the kitchen and you need to be prepared.”
Kellie, who was awarded the Electrolux Appetite for Excellence Young Chef of the Year in 2015, now calls Adelaide home with his partner, Ena Vukcic and one-year-old son, Henry.
MAX SHARRAD
Fugazzi
Age: 31
With Italian grandparents on one side, and a butcher and baker on the other, you could say good food is in Max Sharrad’s blood.
“Food was a big part of my childhood, not only on my mother’s (Italian) side, but my grandfather was a baker and my dad’s brother was a butcher,” Sharrad says.
“Every Sunday would be like, you’d go to grandpa’s house for sausage rolls and scones with jam and cream – passionfruit sponge for special occasions – and then nonna’s house for lunch, she’d do a big pot of ragu with polenta.
“There were lots of happy times growing up spent around food. It got ingrained in me pretty early.”
Over some years, Sharrad would complete his apprenticeship, stage in kitchens overseas and work his way up the ranks at Jock Zonfrillo’s StreetADL and Orana (now closed), where he became junior sous chef. It was there that he met his now wife, Laura, recognisable among many a MasterChef Australia fan. Sharrad would go on to work at Stone’s Throw (now closed) and Shobosho, before rejoining Laura at Nido in Hyde Park. Now, the pair run contemporary Italian restaurant, Fugazzi, in Leigh Street.
TOM TILBURY
press* food & wine
Age: 37
McLaren Vale-raised Tom Tilbury’s journey in food has humble beginnings.
“My parents were working on farms, and we always would eat the produce that was from the farm,” says Tilbury, 37.
“We would always pick wild ingredients, and I just loved the ingredients to begin with – I didn’t know about restaurants yet.”
Fast forward a few decades, and the talented chef – who brought the restaurant at Coriole to number one spot in the 2019 delicious.100 list – is leading the kitchen at the recently revamped press* food and wine, in Adelaide’s business district.
Tilbury’s respect for ingredients is reflected on the plate, with everything from humble carrots to Nomad Farms chicken presented with care, not ego. It’s not just about feeding people.
“Cooking is a wholesome way of treating people,” he says.
“I just like looking after people. It’s such a beautiful thing.”
SCOTT HUGGINS
Magill Estate Restaurant
Age: 39
“There was never another option for me,” says Scott Huggins about choosing to cook professionally.
“I always wanted to become a chef.”
With a career spanning 25 years, Huggins, 39, has worked in some of the world’s great restaurants. But it all started with a love of food.
“Some of my earliest memories are of food … bugging mum constantly about ‘what’s for dinner’, ‘what’s for breakfast’, ‘what’s for lunch’ … and then just dreaming all day about that dish,” he says.
“Cooking honestly just brings me so much happiness. It drives me every day to be better at what I do, to push boundaries and the sky is the limit with food. Whether it’s at the restaurant or at home I put everything into every single meal that I prepare.”
After eight years at Magill Estate Restaurant, considered one of SA’s finest dining experiences, Huggins continues to surprise and delight. So invested is he in the venue, he took over the management and least of the restaurant, as well as its casual neighbour, Magill Estate Kitchen, earlier this year.
BRENDAN WESSELS
Aurora
Age: 40
It seems wherever he goes, South African-born, Michelin-star trained chef Brendan Wessels knows how to push the bar.
He garnered Leonard’s Mill two forks in The Advertiser’s Food Guide 2015 in its opening season, with restaurant reviewer Simon Wilkinson describing the food as “head-turning”.
His creativity stepped up a notch at the ambitious d’Areberg Cube restaurant, with creations such as eel and foie gras “cookies” and 3D printed desserts.
Now, Wessels’ drive is to lead the next generation of hospitality staff, at city restaurant Aurora.
“As a cook, you always know exactly where you stand, and how far off the target you are,” Wessels, 40, says.
“Every day offers the potential to understand more than you did yesterday.
“Then of course, and probably most importantly, I love food – I bloody love it! It intrigues me, it comforts me, it frustrates me, it’s so damn good it makes me cry!”
Part of the hospitality hub known as Light, Aurora has been established with the vision of offering staff structured training and development, a sustainable lifestyle and fair wages.
KANE POLLARD
Topiary
Age: 36
When it comes to sustainable cooking, Kane Pollard is among those leading the charge.
“You can make the most extraordinary things from waste,” says Pollard, a father-of-two.
“If treated like any other ingredient, it can often end up being the one that was missing all along.”
From carrot tops to ricotta made from leftover whey, Pollard finds a way to hero parts of ingredients that would normally get discarded.
He’s thrived on the creativity of it all, driving his restaurant Topiary – which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary – among the best in SA.
It’s a family affair – Pollard’s wife, Adele, manages the dining areas. Pollard is also part of the Slow Food South Australia movement, supporting local producers and food that is “good, clean and fair for all”.
FABIAN LEHMANN
Maxwell
Age: 36
German-born Fabian Lehmann spent a lot of his early career in Scandinavia, before arriving in Australia in his mid-20s on a work and travel visa.
“I worked on Hamilton Island and that’s where I met my now wife, Kayla,” says Lehmann.
After heading back home for a couple of years, the pair resettled in Adelaide - Kayla’s hometown. A job popped up at McLaren Vale cellar door restaurant, Maxwell, and the rest is history.
Lehmann’s technical approach to food, creating works of art without compromising on flavour, won Maxwell the Best Regional restaurant award in this year’s delicious.100.
“I like details,” he says.
“As a chef you never stop learning. You need to keep it interesting for yourself and keep figuring stuff out.”
MUG CHEN AND CHIA WU
Muni
Ages: 31; 39
Mug Chen and Chia Wu come from a background of fine dining and, while both are from Taiwan, met while working at Melbourne’s acclaimed Vue de Monde (funnily enough, they also crossed paths here with Restaurant Botanic’s Justin James, who was executive chef at the time).
Attracted by South Australia’s wine scene and emerging food culture, the pair moved to the Fleurieu and separately worked in restaurants including The Salopian Inn and d’Arenberg Cube.
They chose the regional town of Willunga to open their neighbourhood wine bar-turned-dining-destination, Muni.
“We always wanted to do something by ourselves,” says Chen, 31.
“We chose Willunga because we wanted to make something not necessarily just for locals, but with a connection with community.”
For Chen, who also has a degree in management and finance (Wu studied foreign languages), cooking is “always exciting”.
“Being in the kitchen, cooking, feels like a day off,” she says.
DAVID SWAIN
Fino Vino
Age: 59
“I truly love cooking, more than anything. It’s what keeps me going.”
After 40 years in the restaurant game, chef David Swain isn’t hanging up his apron anytime soon.
But he doesn’t work alone – where there’s Swain, there's Sharon Romeo – the front of (power)house who embodies hospitality.
The pair met at Star of Greece in 2000 and then opened the first instalment of their Fino brand, Fino in Willunga, 18 years ago.
“The past 18 years of my cooking has been very centred around Sharon and I,” Swain says.
“We’re almost one now; we are one. We love hospitality and we love serving people and giving people the most wonderful experience. That’s what’s kept me going for 40 years in the kitchen.”
The pair also have Barossa cellar door restaurant, Fino at Seppeltsfield.
TRINH RICHARDS
The Little Rickshaw
Age: 37
Not being professionally-trained only pushes Vietnamese cook Trinh Richards “to be better”.
“To this day I still have severe impostor syndrome,” says Richards, 37.
“Cooking – I just love it.”
She’s also very good at it. It’s why The Little Rickshaw – a “tin shed in Willunga” as owners Richards and her co-owner husband Mike call it – is one of the toughest spots in the Fleurieu to get a table, and why it’s made an impressive debut in this year’s delicious.100.
Richards is self-taught, developing her palette from her upbringing in Vietnam as well as her travels.
“It started when my mother would leave the family to go to Vietnam and I had three brothers at home to cook for,” she says.
“Of course, I had to make the food better than my mum.
“It’s an obsession, and I’m not calling it healthy, but I love when people eat it and have an experience.”
TIM BOURKE
The Farm Eatery
Age: 43
After working overseas for a while, Sydneysider Tim Bourke moved to Kangaroo Island to open Southern Ocean Lodge in 2008. After seven years, he travelled to the Barossa to help out with a shift for at Maggie Beer’s Farm in Nuriootpa, and “never left”.
“I love the regions,” Bourke, 41, says.
“It has the best food, best produce, best drinks. As soon as I moved to KI I thought, South Australia is where I want to be.”
Having built a strong relationship with the Beer family, the group transformed what was an empty function centre to a restaurant and cooking school, five years ago.
Bourke’s biggest passion is imparting his skills to the next generation of chefs as well as budding home cooks.
“For me my passion is training. That’s my favourite part of hospitality,” he says.
“I always say, when I’m in my 60s, when I eat somewhere I want chefs who’ve learnt all those skills.”
KARENA ARMSTRONG
The Salopian Inn
Age: 48
Karena Armstrong has been flying the flag for female chefs for years. In a landscape dominated by men, Armstrong holds her own, creating one of the best eating experiences South Australia has to offer.
“I love it,” Armstrong says of cooking.
She’s speaking from the APY lands after finishing some work in the Training Centre.
“Every day is different; I’m still learning, and I get to do things like this – cook in the APY lands or at a festival … there’s so much more in it.”
From the age of 18-30, Armstrong enjoyed cooking and “being a general 20-year-old” across Tasmania, Sydney, Melbourne, Vietnam and America.
Now, you’ll regularly spot her in The Salopain Inn’s kitchen, which she took over 10 years ago.
“Every week I have to work in the kitchen, just to be grounded,” she says. “It’s just part of my DNA.”
SHANNON FLEMING
Lot 100
Age: 40
Shannon Fleming credits the year he left Jock Zonfrillo’s fine diner Orana as being “particularly impactful” on his career.
“I took a fair bit of time off; obviously there was a fair bit of stress working in that kind of restaurant,” says Fleming, 40.
“Not cooking full-time in a restaurant helped me become a better chef.”
He felt a pull to move to Adelaide Hills, where he now lives with his wife, Nicole, and four children.
“Moving to the Hills, I did a lot of Hills-based catering, working with wineries, and that gave me the opportunity to speak to local producers and do a lot of foraging and really tap into the seasonal scene,” he said.
“That really impacted what I do daily now.”
He was able to impart his philosophy at Lot 100, and has now just overseen the development of the inaugural restaurant menu at the old Whitmore pub in Adelaide, which was recently taken over by Mismatch Brewing.
“It’s not pub food; it’s my food,” he says.
DUNCAN WELGEMOED
Africola
Age: 39
South African-born trailblazer Duncan Welgemoed entered Adelaide’s dining scene about as subtly as a comet crashing into Earth.
The larger-than-life, no-f’s-given personality-type was opening Adelaide’s first real, South African-inspired restaurant and it was bright, bold and big on flavour.
“We wanted to do something new,” he says. It worked – Africola was awarded Restaurant of the Year in the 2017 Advertiser Food Awards and continues to be booked out in advance.
Today, the restaurant has evolved to hero more veg, and has also produced a heck-of-a-salad bar offspring in Norwood, called Africola Canteen.
“I am constantly inspired by our excellent producers, wonderful customers and hard working, talented and hilarious team,” says Welgemoed, a dad of two boys.
“Africola is almost 10 years old and we still feel as fresh as if we opened yesterday.
“We will always push to be the hottest ticket in town because we truly love what we do.”
ADAM LISTON
Shobosho
Age: 40
Having travelled and worked extensively throughout Asia and, particularly, Japan, Adam Liston is behind one of Adelaide’s best contemporary Asian restaurants, Shobosho.
“Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean is the pinnacle of cooking for me,” Liston says.
“It’s organised, clean and the ways they treat produce is amazing.”
Liston’s interest in Chinese and Japanese cuisine traces back to his apprentice days, when the spotlight was on the likes of Cheong Lieu and Le Tu Thai (Bridgewater Mill).
“When I was a young guy in Adelaide learning how to cook, those guys were making it super popular,” he says.
“Then living in China and loving to eat Asian food it became a thing.”
SAM WORRALL-THOMPSON
Bar Lune
Age: 36
Chef and business owner Sam Worrall-Thompson has his fingers in many pies.
“Adelaide is growing really quickly,” he says.
“I think there are opportunities to snap up now, and be under the pump for a little bit.”
Of course, there’s Bar Lune – the roaring suburban bar and eatery which has made an impressive debut in this year’s delicious.100 list – but also Fine & Fettle; an upcoming restaurant in Unley called Dolly and sandwich bar behind it; plus plans for Prospect and Rostrevor – and that’s just the hospitality side of things.
While the bulk of his time is spent on strategy (“I love the creative part; setting up, branding, concept and getting wheels in motion”), cooking is in Worrall-Thompson’s blood.
“My dad was a celebrity chef in the UK,” he says.
“I started cooking from when I was about 13 years old; I’d cook dinner for my sister. I always really enjoyed it.”
TOM ROBINSON
The Lane Vineyard
Age: 39
After dipping his toe in a science and mathematics degree at university (“I was a numbers boy”), Tom Robinson decided to pursue a more creative path in the kitchen.
“As soon as I got into cooking I knew 100 per cent it was the right path for me,” Robinson says.
He started in local pubs before progressing to head chef at Italian fine diner, Auge, then moved through Newcastle and Sydney over several years.
It was there he became good friends with now TV identity Colin Fassnidge, and the pair worked together at Four in Hand. Robinson took over from James Brinklow at The Lane in 2020.
“I’ve been in kitchens more than half my life, and I think I’m inspired more than I ever have been, because of Adelaide and it’s food scene,” he says.
“We have meals to celebrate marriages and anniversaries, birthdays, catching up with friends, mourning a love one – integral part of humanity, community and I get to be a part of that.”
CALLUM HANN
eleven
Age: 33
Since he first came onto our television screens via MasterChef Australia as a bushy-tailed 19-year-old in 2010, Barossa-raised Callum Hann has remained a recognisable face in the local food scene.
Apart from appearing on the popular TV cooking show a further two times, he’s championed SA produce through initiatives such as Pick A Local and is also the face of Sprout cooking school and health studio, which he started with nutritionist Themis Chryssidis.
Those guys went on to open a couple of restaurants, including eleven, in Waymouth St’s new plaza.
“We want people who work in the city to be able to bring their friends and family or colleagues here,” he says.
“Anyone can come and be really well looked after.”
TONY CARROLL
Fishbank
Age: 55
Chef Tony Carroll completed his apprenticeship at Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland “many years ago”, then after a stint in London at The Oak Room, joined the QE2 cruise liner, which brought him to Australia.
“I fell in love with Sydney straight away and knew I had to return,” he says.
After working in Canberra and Melbourne, Carroll moved to Adelaide in early 2000s, becoming partner at Jolleys Boathouse for more than 15 years. In 2020, he “jumped at the opportunity” to take over Jamie’s Italian with seafood restaurant, Fishbank.
“It’s such an amazing iconic building, plus I have an absolute passion for fresh sustainable Australian seafood,” he says.
“Now here we are two years later, covered in fish scales, cuts and burns, loving every minute of it.”
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