First, there’s a primal response to the flames and glowing embers wrangled with such dexterity in the kitchen, then an appreciation for the craftsmanship of the stonework and timber cabinetry used to such great effect across the room.

The welcome is warm and genuine, the mood upbeat, the sense of a large team working with common purpose strangely reassuring. From a seat at the counter (highly recommended), it is a pleasure to watch it all unfold: the fire powering furnace-like ovens, grills and even a cauldron deep-fryer; the preparation of unlikely ingredients such as a magnificent turbot (fish); the synchronicity and sense of calm in a kitchen under the leadership of Jake Kellie, who learnt his craft at Singapore’s revered Burnt Ends.

A chef’s menu offers the best value, building from snacks such as grilled slithers of beef tongue doused in fermented chilli and a meaty collar of kingfish in a sticky savoury varnish. Larger serves become more hands-on, more visceral. A roasted quail arrives with a large knife for carving. Grilled lobster half also requires work, but what a luxury to include in the set package. A hefty chop of milk-fed pork loin is sliced from the bone and topped with barbecued plum and pickled currants.

For those entranced by the theatre of the kitchen, by food in all its sensual wonder, by hospitality at its finest, this is one of Adelaide’s finest packages.

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