Inside Barossa Valley’s best restaurants: Local hotelier shares top picks
This fashion-forward project manager and hotelier lives in South Australia but has close ties to Provence. Here’s her advice for travellers.
Multi-tasking has always come naturally to fashion event producer Geraldine Frater-Wyeth. Through her production company, Event Gallery, she has orchestrated some of the most significant events on the Australian fashion calendar, including Melbourne Fashion Week and the Melbourne Fashion Festival. Collette Dinnigan, Martin Grant and Akira Isogawa are among the high-profile Australian designers the now Barossa Valley-based specialist producer has worked alongside.
“I’ve come from a family of creatives so I don’t get too frazzled. I just really enjoy seeing beautiful things come to life, and I love pulling all the moving parts together at the last moment,” says Frater-Wyeth, who began her career in event management in London. She worked in the philanthropic arm at Dora Loewenstein Associates, a British charity owned by the daughter of the Rolling Stones’ longtime manager, Rupert Loewenstein.
In 2020, Frater-Wyeth added hotelier to her already extensive repertoire, opening Le Mas Barossa, a Small Luxury Hotels-listed boutique in the heart of South Australia’s famed wine region. She and husband Llewellyn – whom she describes as the “true hotelier” of the two, having managed the Accor group’s South Australian inventory – began renovating the country estate in 2014 as a labour of love while holding down their day jobs.
Ten years earlier, her French mother had purchased the property because it reminded her of Aix-en-Provence, her home town, while retaining the connection to Adelaide, where she met Frater-Wyeth’s father and raised their family. She was also drawn to its century-old working vineyard. Local winemaker Alex Trescowthick now works the vines, producing a lighter, less oak-driven style of grenache.
Frater-Wyeth’s ability to split her time between multiple endeavours appears to be inherited from her mother. “My mum has always been very hands-on. In France, she was initially a chef and, for a time, even had a little restaurant in Perth when she first moved to Australia, before she went on to become a concert pianist. When she decided to settle in Adelaide, she moved into silk importing. I remember when she bought this property, she got physically involved in the grape picking and fruit stomping for the first time. She’s come to embrace the Australian way of getting out into nature – but she’ll still do it all in high heels,” Frater-Wyeth says with a laugh.
The decision to design Le Mas in the style of a provincial farmhouse had much to do with respecting her mother’s heritage. “When family members visit from France, they say they feel like they’re back in Provence. While it’s quite authentic, you’ll then see a kangaroo hop by to remind you where you really are.”
Where to eat in the Barossa
There’s a bicycle path right outside Le Mas that takes you through the valley. The first place I love to stop at is the St Hugo Wines cellar door. For a meal, Hentley Farm has always been a favourite. For a more low-key, all-day dining experience, the South American-inspired El Estanco is fantastic. They make their own bread and pastries, and their coffee is great. A newer spot I’m loving is Staguni, a restaurant from an ex-chef at Hentley Farm, which has opened in the historic Marananga primary school.
Where I stay in Paris
A taste of Paris
There’s a little restaurant in the fifth arrondissement that I can’t wait to go back to. It’s called La Truffiere and it has the most incredible French cuisine. It’s not a very well known spot but the food is truly wonderful. There’s also a falafel shop right next to it that’s fantastic too.
Recommended hotels in Japan
On our most recent trip to Japan, my husband and I were researching Small Luxury
Hotels properties. The Tokyo Station Hotel (which is located inside the station itself) was absolutely incredible. I was blown away by the level of service. They walk you through the whole platform to get you to your little train – and you get given amazing pyjamas too. The other place that really stood out to us was Sowaka in Kyoto. It’s a more authentic ryokan and the restaurant attached to it is beautiful.
Secret spot on the French Riviera
I spent most of my teenage years in Eze-sur-Mer, a little village between Nice and Monaco in the heart of the French Riviera. It’s a very beautiful and relaxing spot in comparison with Nice or Villefranche. I always look for the quiet refuge near any busy place. It reminds me of when we stay on Ile Saint-Louis, a little island in the middle of the Seine, in Paris. It might be a bit quiet for some, but it’s really calming and you’re surrounded by lots of trees.
My best packing hack
Honestly, for me, packing is always a last-minute thing and I definitely haven’t perfected it, but one truly amazing item is my July suitcase. We have so many of the brand’s cases, but I love the one with the Pro SnapSleeve, which has a built-in ejectable battery for charging your laptop. It’s actually such a good hack because it detaches so you can pull your laptop straight off it.
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