Adelaide’s new Indian restaurant Daughter in Law; Yarra Valley winery upgrade
Chef Jessi Singh has taken his “unauthentic” Indian cuisine farther afield.
Hot in the city
Daughter in Law, Adelaide
Chef and restaurateur Jessi Singh’s career has taken him from rural India to Melbourne, New York City, California and to Sydney’s Surry Hills. Now his distinctive brand of “unauthentic Indian cuisine” is expanding further with the opening of the second incarnation of Daughter in Law restaurant in Adelaide in March and a third just launching in Byron Bay on the NSW north coast. The original eatery, in Melbourne’s theatre district, continues to thrum with patrons (when Covid restrictions allow).
Travel + Luxury had the pleasure of sampling Singh’s wares in the South Australian capital and found the experience a feast for all the senses. First up: the tunes. An appreciation for so-bad-it’s-good retro pop is essential. Dinner might be served spiced with some Eurythmics, early Madonna, Doobie Brothers and Carole King. The decor is fun and vibrant, with velvet seating, brightly coloured walls adorned with Indian portraits and a touch of neon.
The menu promises to “respect tradition” while taking an individual path. Remove any decision-making dilemmas by opting for the tasting selection, kicking off with the delightful Balls of Happiness, crispy spheres that deliver a joyful burst of flavour. Kingfish ceviche follows, along with a fabulous Indo-Chinese cauliflower creation. The main event comprises a thali plate of four dishes, including two vegetarian, lamb rogan josh and Singh’s take on butter chicken. It’s all beautifully presented with naan, raita and rice; a wide selection of beers and wines is on offer, many of them local.
If you’ve got room for dessert, there’s always kulfi. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)? Indeed they are.
PENNY HUNTER
Cool in the country
Levantine Hill Estate, Coldstream, Victoria
The latest phase in a wine destination development that its guiding force believes will capture the attention of not just Australia but the world has been unveiled in Victoria’s Yarra Valley.
Levantine Hill Estate’s new winery and events space is certainly hard to miss: sitting beside the highway, the $30m-plus spectacle, with its soaring cantilevered entrance fronting a long corrugated iron hangar-like structure, commands a view over vineyards that compare topographically, and maybe even taste-wise, with the grand cru holdings of Chablis.
Owner Elias Jreissati commissioned Melbourne architect Karl Fender, whose landmark projects include MONA in Hobart, to create what chief winemaker Paul Bridgeman calls Levantine Hill’s “embassy”. Bridgeman can now process 10 times more fruit for his refined and revered chardonnay, pinot noir, shiraz and the great blending varieties of Bordeaux, and the best of the wines come from paddocks named individually for his boss’s wife and daughters.
Jreissati, a Melbourne developer, says: “I thought corrugated iron would be cheap. Nothing Karl Fender does is cheap. But it makes a statement about Yarra Valley and Victoria being an international destination.”
The space looks across the lawns – often populated by helicopters that run a taxi service from downtown Melbourne – to the existing Fender-designed restaurant/cellar door where new head chef Vinnie Robinson has created a tasting menu reflecting Jreissati’s Lebanese roots. Choose three, five or seven-course degustation experiences, or go for the wine flights, where LHE’s best is sampled against benchmarked rare and renowned wines from France. Later you can stroll through landscaped gardens. The next phase for Levantine Hill, a bespoke hotel, is on Fender’s drawing board.
JEREMY BOURKE