Following a month-long closure, Restaurant Botanic (formerly Botanic Gardens Restaurant) reopened in July 2021 with a new open kitchen, curved chef’s table and chef, Justin James, whose impressive CV includes time at Noma (Copenhagen), Eleven Madison Park (New York) and Melbourne’s Vue de monde. Here, he has drawn inspiration from the surrounding Adelaide Botanic Gardens, using the grounds as the kitchen pantry to weave ingredients into a procession of 20 intricate courses. Roasted marron tail rests on a puddle of charred cream with splashes of fermented chilli and lemon myrtle oil. A charred paperbark parcel is unwrapped to reveal a whole abalone, neatly dissected and spread to fit a sliver of fresh asparagus between each slice. Locally foraged morel mushroom is skewered kebab-style with a cube of grilled kangaroo and a pickled rose petal. Along the way, there are also sorbets, palate cleansers and petits fours too numerous and too complex to be done justice here. For those who care about what they eat, it is a Magical Mystery Tour from start to finish. Plane Tree Dr, Adelaide SA. restaurantbotanic.com.au

South Australia’s first fire-fuelled restaurant is the baby of young gun chef Jake Kellie (known for his time at the Michelin-starred Burnt Ends in Singapore) and hospitality heavyweight Martin Palmer. A big-dollar renovation transformed the brilliant building at 127 The Parade, most recently occupied by Stone’s Throw. Restaurant arkhe is edgy, cool and intimate, all at the same time. When it comes to the food, diners get to experience Kellie in his element. Snacks are a highlight, from bougie hash browns with creme fraiche and caviar, to brulee-topped tartlets of the smoothest duck liver parfait. Progress to a superb, meaty collar of kingfish coated in a sticky savoury varnish, then perhaps the king of all lamb chops, served with brown butter pumpkin, chocolate sauce and brown sage. With some of the best service staff and an impressive sommelier, it’s a fantastic night out. Our hot tip? Get a front seat to the theatre and sit up at the bar. 127 The Parade, Norwood SA. arkhe.com.au

Take one of Adelaide’s landmark restaurant sites – the old Rigoni’s in Leigh St – give it a million-dollar refit, get a pasta king and queen on board and you’ve got yourself a winning formula that has diners booking weeks in advance. Fugazzi is New York glamour in Adelaide; it’s long lunches (they’re back!), celebrations and date nights. Chef Max Sharrad and his wife, MasterChef star Laura, are partners in the business with influential restaurateur, Simon Kardachi. After building a strong reputation and following at Nido, in Hyde Park, they took on the mammoth project – and diners are reaping the delicious benefits. Start with the “Roman Vegemite”, a crisp-fried toast soldier drenched in butter and topped with slithers of lemon and Sicilian anchovies. In a luxurious interpretation of crab pasta, golden strands of egg taglierni are tossed with hand-picked blue swimmer crab, salmon roe pearls, fermented chilli and a crustacean butter. Feeling luxe? Add caviar. Finish with sheep’s milk gelato and be singing, That’s Amore. 27 Leigh St, Adelaide SA. fugazzi.com.au

An Adelaide dining institution, Press reopened in April with a new look, feel, owner and chef – and its made an impressive debut in our delicious.100. Black paint and long share tables have been replaced with art-deco glamour, the room now revolving around a central bar with its liquor displayed in elegant arched recesses. Chef Tom Tilbury, best known for his chart-topping time at Coriole winery, blends updated classics with his own inventions. Small cubes of raw kingfish and a finer dice of fennel are finished with horseradish cream and finger lime pearls dressed in pink pepper. Choux pastry is wrapped in a layer of crisp biscuit “craquelin” and filled with a chicken liver parfait smoother than a Barry White love song. Mains move to more succinct pleasures. When an aged pork cutlet, full of natural meaty flavour, is paired with an equally plain disc of lightly pickled eggplant and mustard seeds the result is compelling. 40 Waymouth St, Adelaide SA. pressfoodandwine.com.au

Covid-induced changes in mindset don’t come much bigger than that of Brendan Wessels. A few years back, he was pushing meringue mix into a 3D printer at the d’Arenberg Cube. Now he is executive chef and chief mentor of Aurora, a restaurant with an altruistic, ego-free, sustainable vision. Aurora is part of a collective of hi-tech performance and hospitality spaces known as Light that has taken over what was originally a tobacco factory, then an adults’ club, on the western side of Light Square. Wessels is originally from South Africa and one section of his menu is devoted to meats and fish from the “braii” or barbecue. Other plates show a mix of influences – South African, Thai, French and particularly Japanese – all elevated by small but significant touches of technical virtuousity. Charred tube and fried tentacles of local calamari are matched with yuzu peel and smashed cucumber salad. A silken puree of eggplant and dashi is the mortar that binds fried pieces of tofu, chargrilled broccoli florets and toasted leaves of nori. Simple, but refined. Light, 63 Light Square, Adelaide SA. auroraadl.com.au

The natural wine bar-turned restaurant is among this year’s biggest surprises. A small property at the bottom of Willunga’s famed hill has been finished in natural tones with a restraint that suggests modern Japan. It opened as a bar pouring natural wines alongside small, affordable plates but that has morphed into a degustation showcasing the vast imagination of Taiwanese-born owner/chefs Mug Chen and Chia Wu (ex Vue de monde, Melbourne). The detail they put into every plate is extraordinary. Leeks are poached in beetroot juice for two hours and re-rolled into uniform little batons, then piped with “liquid brioche” and sprinkled with beetroot powder. Even a simple grilled cube of sublime wagyu sirloin is enhanced with cherry vinegar gel, beetroot chips and onions pickled in the juice used for the leeks. These chefs are the ones to watch. 2/3 High St, Willunga SA. munirestaurant.com

The Fino story, of course, goes back more than 15 years to the little cottage in Willunga where chef David Swain and front-of-house dynamo Sharon Romeo first made magic together. In 2014, they shifted to the Barossa, as part of the redevelopment of Seppeltsfield, and then, two years ago, added Fino Vino, bottling the spirit of the original and bringing it to the heart of the city. Romeo has now had time to build and counsel a service team that is the equal of any in town. And, in the kitchen, the calm assurance of Swain is evident on the plate again. This is Fino food. Grounded, intelligent, understated – a bit like the bloke himself. Some combinations, say zucchini, ricotta and pistachios, can look dead simple. Dig deeper, however, and you find the charred vegie ribbons and house-made ricotta make the perfect couple. The Italian masterpiece veal saltimbocca is rendered perfectly, with a sage leaf beneath as well as on top of the seamless prosciutto wrapper, the quality of the meat inside outstanding.. 82 Flinders St, Adelaide SA. finovino.net.au

Bar Lune is that good, that much fun, it will make you consider moving house so it can be your local. The cooking is exceptional, the wine a good match. An old pair of adjacent shopfronts are split between a bar flanked by a terrazzo-topped high table and the main dining space, with a mix of veneer, banquettes and bouclé-covered cushions in pinks and browns that might remind you of Aunty Beryl’s lounge room. The 20 or so dishes on offer are an eclectic mix of Asian, Middle Eastern, Italian and other Euro influences. A grilled skewer of ox tongue slices offers a melting, mildly bacon-y pleasure alongside a tonnato-style mayonnaise, capers and grated pecorino. Shredded broccoli rabe is sauteed with garlic and chilli to create the base for a classic orecchiette pasta from Italy’s Puglia region. And then it is off to Malaysia for barbecued squid, its main tube artfully dissected like a large spring, slathered with an oily, unctuous tomato and chilli sambal. 303 The Parade, Beulah Park SA. barlune.com.au

This bold city venture from local food personality (and former MasterChef contestant) Callum Hann and his business partner Themis Chryssidis has plenty going for it. The name eleven refers to its location in Waymouth St, tucked away at the rear of an office tower. A dark and handsome room, with a cohesive mix of tactile materials in black, copper and deep green, features a long, open kitchen fronted by a marble chef’s table overlooking the pass. Here chef Water Lo supervises the contemporary French cooking, realised most often as hero ingredients arranged on a plate and sauced at the table. Briefly cured strips of king george whiting are tossed with the one-two crunch of pink lady apple and kohlrabi, before a chicken and wakame sauce takes it up another gear. For crimped pasta parcels of goat’s curd and leek, a charred onion broth is poured from a tea pot. 11 Waymouth St, Adelaide SA. elevenadl.com.au

The historic former bank building, once home to Jamie’s Italian, now houses one of the state’s best seafood restaurants. Coffin Bay oysters, Port Lincoln kingfish, Goolwa pipis and a veritable shipload of other local seafood treats are on offer here, making the most of the fact our state has the largest commercial fishing fleet in the country. Marlin is transformed into “ham” and served on bread with anchovy butter – it’s as good as it sounds – while the prawn toast is a fun gourmet twist on that Chinese restaurant classic. Battered Port Lincoln flathead and hand-cut chips is a well-executed classic, while the deep-fried salt and pepper kingfish wings in soy and tamarind broth is crunchy, meaty and an excellent preparation of a fish that can be tricky.. GROUND LEVEL, 2 King William St, Adelaide SA. fishbankadl.com.au

This historic Clare Valley hotel has undergone a splendid transformation thanks to well-known locals Warrick Duthy and Nicola Palmer. But the changes to the building only tell part of the story. Equally important is what is happening up the road at Penobscot Farm, the source of Watervale Hotel’s fresh and vibrant in-season ingredients. All this investment and ambition translates into a dining experience that is commendably down to earth. Whole rainbow trout is grilled and served with the tang of fresh sorrel from the garden in wilted leaves and a melting pat of butter. A warm citrus and almond cake, still crisp at the edges from the oven, is topped with poached cumquats and a scoop of lemon verbena ice cream. It’s a memorable dessert with the farm at its heart again. 37 Main N Rd, Watervale SA. watervalehotel.com.au