Who are we to argue with Oprah? The talk-show queen was mighty impressed with this luxurious hot dog when she visited Magill Estate Kitchen, the easy-going sibling of the show-stopper restaurant next door. Under the watchful eye of owner/chef Scott Huggins, the venues have a mutually beneficial relationship. The seafood mousse in these sausages, for instance, was originally designed to stuff chicken wings in the restaurant. The glossy roll is deep-fried sweet Taiwanese bread; the ‘ketchup’ a mayonnaise hit with soy and black vinegar. And being the home of Penfolds, your hot dog can be accompanied by Yattarna chardonnay.

When Jake Kellie became Orleana’s culinary director at Kingsford The Barossa in 2025, he knew he wanted his menu to highlight the best produce South Australia had to offer. And it truly does. Dishes feature Dairyman oyster mushrooms, Ferguson rock lobster and Mayura Station rump cap, but the real hero is the Lyndoch roasted duck. Sourced from a producer just 10 minutes away, the duck is dry-aged for two weeks, then marinated in shio koji before being plunged in cold water to set the skin. After further ageing, it’s scored, glazed with burnt honey glaze and smoked with pink pepper leaves.

Dark, handsome and full of old-school New York/Italian glamour, Tarantino’s is the kind of place that calls for a Big Night – one that might start with a round of mini negronis and proceed to the signature half-lobster pasta. For a suitable exclamation mark to these hijinks, look no further than the bombe alaska. For summer, chef Shane Wilson starts his bombe with a disc of pound cake spread with mango jam, before building layers of yoghurt and mango sorbets, and covering it all in a dome of billowing Italian meringue that’s flamed with warmed Chartreuse at the table. Bravo!

A Mexican sibling has come to Joe’s at Sabella, setting up digs beside the old church in McLaren Vale, where the pizza-throwing superstars led by co-owner/chef Timmy Forster ensure locals keep up their carbs. Taco José has turned into one of summer’s best parties, with the margaritas (classic and slushy) flowing and a short menu headlined by a trio of tacos. Built on quality blue corn tortillas, the slow-cooked brisket and smoked cauli and beans taco combinations are both highly recommended. Take your pick from house-made chilli sauces, but be warned – the ‘Donkey Tears’ is not for the faint-hearted.

Your 3am post-club feed gets a glow-up at this new Greek restaurant from the team behind award-winning digs Fugazzi, Nido and Latteria. That’s not to say Omada has needlessly messed with a classic – your gyros even arrives wrapped in paper, true to its street-food roots. But take a bite, and with that deliciously charred souvla-style pork is the crunchiest crackling (in place of chips), a thick, hung yoghurt tzatziki made with confit garlic, and fluffy house-made pita you won’t want to leave behind. That pinned guindilla pepper is more than decoration – take bites as you go for banging hits of acidity.

After travelling the breadth of mainland Australia, Alanna Sapwell-Stone’s nomadic restaurant pop-up has found a forever home. An abandoned pub on a major intersection just north of Adelaide’s CBD has undergone a dramatic transformation to become the permanent location for Esmay, plus a like-minded bar. Working with Restaurant Botanic owners, Blanco Horner, Sapwell-Stone has built the dining room and kitchen from scratch. She describes her cooking as “elevated CWA”, with dishes like this pasta, which starts with the nostalgia of a cheesy alfredo sauce, adds tender slivers of abalone and then crowns it all with a crisp-skinned roasted duck breast.

It’s relaxed in appearance – a disc of frozen yoghurt topped with waves of crisp filo, sitting in a puddle of amber-hued syrup. Dig deeper, and you’ll find that just-sweet-enough parfait has jammy, reduced figs at its heart; that filo crown is hiding crunchy toasted walnuts; that seemingly simple syrup is spiked with fragrant lemon thyme. This is the kind of quietly assured, delicious food you can expect at Clare Falzon’s debut restaurant in the Barossa, housed in the Marananga School Precinct. Coupled with a considered wine list and warm hospitality, you’ll be plotting your return before you’ve even left.

Former Salopian Inn head chef Jimmy Toone first unveiled his tuna tartare with tonnato sauce at Adelaide wine bar LOC – and diners were hooked. The dish is now a signature at Aldinga wine bar Fall From Grace, which Toone and his front-of-house partner Jo Leal took over in mid-2025. Raw bluefin tuna is finely diced and tossed with chopped caperberries, shallots, cornichons and pickled mustard seeds along with a lemon-spiked dressing in which it cures. Snuggled against an aerated pool of tonnato-style sauce, it’s a raw fish dish that blows the ubiquitous kingfish crudo right out of the water.

Pesky carp gets a smart second act when it’s minced and mixed with Spencer Gulf king prawns and fragrant lemongrass, folded into dumplings and slicked with an aromatic tom yum sauce. Kuti Shack works with Coorong Wild Seafood, which carefully prepares the carp – you might also find carp schnitzels with salsa verde, or the ‘Carp-o Roll’ – a riff on the Chiko Roll. It’s clever cooking that deserves attention, from the crew that elevated pipis to sought-after status, thanks to a partnership between Ngarrindjeri-run Kuti Co and Goolwa PipiCo. Nestled on the foothills of Goolwa Beach, it’s sustainable SA dining done right.

It’s loved by the young and young-at-heart, but Alex Crawford’s gelato is no child’s play. Take the cult-favourite salted butter caramel on sourdough, for which he crafts butter from The Dairyman Barossa (2025 delicious. Produce Awards champion) into a luxurious salted caramel that’s swirled through toasty brown butter gelato. Then come unapologetically crunchy caramelised chunks of local sourdough that demonstrate the kind of wizardry for which the Sugar Man is known. Crawford pivoted from pastry to gelato late last year, but his ethos remains – using only top-quality ingredients to create adventurous flavours that are equal parts playful and sophisticated.

The long wait for the new Adelaide Hills project from acclaimed chef Justin James (Vue de monde, Restaurant Botanic) is nearly over. James has overseen the restoration of an old church, converting its cavernous interior into a series of spaces where a progressive dining experience will unfold for 14 diners. Expect his inspired melding of stellar ingredients and native flavours in combinations such as this marron roasted in an emu liver crust, before being cracked open, briefly rolled over coals and finished with a tangy bush apple emulsion. Aptos is scheduled to open in April, with two bars to follow.

James Erskine was way ahead of the curve when he released Australia’s first pet nat in 2011, but it took 15 years for the natural winemaking pioneer and his wife Sophie to open a cellar door. Just steps from their cherry orchard deep in the Adelaide Hills, this renovated worker’s cottage transforms into a community hub every Saturday afternoon. Warm, relaxed service, vinyl tunes and a farm stall featuring produce from the property set the scene for flights of six organic wines that could feature anything from a playful pet nat to the delightfully pretty grenache that Jauma is famed for.

One of the state’s great country pubs is in the midst of a well-deserved spruce-up from the team behind the Skillogalee cellar door restoration nearby in the Clare Valley. While accommodation and a new bistro should be ready later this year, the pub’s wonderful front bar is back with refreshed decor but, thankfully, the same character. To that end, the kitchen is giving extra love to pub classics such as these scotch eggs. Mince made from heritage pigs brought in whole from the Barossa is wrapped around a soft-boiled egg, double-crumbed, fried and served with a house-made brown sauce.

Summertown Aristologist alumnus Calum Horn’s chart-topping charred beetroot skewer sings the right tune at this music-focused bistro. Paper-thin shavings of red raw beetroot are folded onto a skewer, then chargrilled until smoky. The skewer is then crowned with wedges of sweet, caramelised quince that’s been cooked down for five hours; the resulting sticky syrup pooled on the plate, while burnt apple cider vinegar, olive oil and a scattering of toasted buckwheat hit all the right tang-and-texture notes. Best enjoyed at the bar with a glass of crisp chardonnay, or as the opening track of a long-play meal.

Travel through the tree-lined streets of Piccadilly to find unpretentious, light-filled diner Thelma – a breath of fresh air in a whirlwind world. Talented chef Tom Campbell (ex-Summertown Aristologist) is in his element as he plays with hyperlocal ingredients and, with a deft touch, elevates them to star status. Take the cured Port Lincoln sardines – the new it-fish on menus – which he dares layer with their salty sidekick, anchovy. Meyer lemon plucked from a friend’s tree adds brightness, along with a kiss of fermented chilli and wild garlic; abundant through the Hills come cooler months. It’s the savoury snack you need.