Leonards Mill is worth the drive from Adelaide

7869 Main South Road, Second Valley, SA, regional contemporary.

Impressive: Leonards Mill restaurant. Picture: Keturah de Klerk

SYDNEYSIDERS often remark on how accessible MelbourneÂ’s regional delights are.

How fuss-free the process is of getting to the hills, the vines, the roadkill. And it’s true. But what about Adelaide? The Hills. The Valleys. The Vales… One minute you’re downtown drinking caffe latte; the next you’re surrounded by grapes and blokes in leather shorts.

It should mean that restaurants in the regions thrive; they’re so often only an unstressed one-hour drive away. Of course, an hour to a Sydneysider may seem like three to someone who grew up in Unley. Which may help explain why, on a Thursday afternoon, we are the only ones dining on a menu called “A Taste of the Fleurieu” at Leonards Mill, a handsome stone edifice at Second Valley. (Others are on the deck with a cheaper menu.)

Second Valley? It is indeed on the Fleurieu Peninsula, a cluster of shacks and caravan parks about 75 minutes’ drive from Adelaide. To an outsider it’s an odd place to find an aspirational restaurant, but my co-pilot assures me that being close to the Kangaroo Island ferry is of huge strategic significance. We’re following up the suggestion of a local nose who says Leonards Mill has two young chefs recruited from a particularly good Victorian regional restaurant (Lake House).

A whitewashed mass of stone, Leonards is a beautiful, impressive roadside structure with much of its original equipment still in place for a bit of historic texture. Some of the aesthetic touches – the paintings, the ’80s pine tables – are at odds with the contemporary food. Still, most of these dishes, particularly entrees and desserts, are worth forgiving the odd jarring visual: pretty, textural, light yet full of flavour and soul, this is what modern, regional food can be.

You can do two ($65), three ($80) or multiple courses at $125; in hindsight, the latter would be my pick, because the protein-based “main course” was the least interesting. If you’re a fan of Lake House food you’ll like dishes such as the combination of sashimi kingfish and cooked squid on yuzu cream with wakame tapioca crisps, buckwheat and daikon tubes filled with “dashi pearls” (tapioca cooked in dashi). It arrives under a smoke-filled cloche, for drama. Or the sweet/savoury clash of braised goat meat in brik pastry on a date paste with smoked yoghurt, a kind of glamorous tabbouleh and a scattering of baby radishes.

Another incredibly pretty dish is the combo of three baby heirloom beets on cumin pearl barley and beetroot puree; splodges of Hindmarsh Valley chevre mousse, walnuts and a powder of caramelised milk solids add acid and bitterness.

Bigger dishes impressed me less. A fruity braise of beef brisket gets all the trimmings: nasturtium leaves, horseradish buttermilk sauce, a few flowers, green herb oil, rye (like pumpernickel) and Avruga, which they call herring roe (incorrectly). It’s too heavy to be a starter but too big to sustain interest over a “main”.

The other is more traditional: KI lamb two ways (seared and roasted loin, shredded braised shoulder in a timbale) with charred shallot, a nice light stock-based sauce and a few “sea succulents” (samphire).

I loved my dessert. The peanut parfait with black sesame ice cream, compressed banana and sesame tuile is a staple at Lake House for good reason. Leonards’ is a ripper version. The alternative is a thoroughly modern jumble: local buttermilk pannacotta, oat and KI honey crumble, apple jelly, toasted oatmeal ice cream and a dollop of sponge on top. Again, it looks very pretty and succeeds nicely. There’s a good desserts chef out the back somewhere.

In Melbourne and Sydney we’d drive out here for lunch without a blink. I hope Adelaideans will feel the same way. Leonards Mill adds a valuable string to an already impressive regional SA bow. They don’t know how lucky they are.

Address: 7869 Main South Road, Second Valley, SA

Phone: [phone] Web: leonardsmill.com

Hours: Lunch Wed-Sun; dinner Fri-Sat

Typical prices: Two courses $65, three $80, tasting menu $125

Summary: Refined, lots of promise

Like this? Try… Lake House, Vic; Vasse Felix, WA

Stars (out of five): 3.5