Kane Pollard is a chef who doesn’t like to throw anything away. Whether it’s the tops to his carrots, the leaves from a cauli, pumpkin seeds or the briny liquid left after cooking mussels, he will find a use for it all.

That he does so in compositions showing all the unforced beauty and creative flavour matching you’d expect from one of our elite diners makes this the biggest, most welcome surprise in the SA delicious 100 list.

Topiary, after all, is a garden centre café in the far-flung north-eastern suburbs of Adelaide. It serves eggs every way for breakfast. Even at lunch, plant lovers will pop in for a hot chocolate and scones.

They don’t know what they are missing out on. How about a squid ink crumpet topped with plump smoked mussels, shaved fennel, mussel water mayo and a tangy tangelo marmalade? It’s unbelievably good. Or, more conventional but just as delicious, fried gnocchi tossed with a spring bounty of peas and beans in nasturtium oil and house-made ricotta?

Prices are extraordinary. A luscious puck of pan-fried corned beef with roasted carrots and carrot top mayo, for instance, is only $24. It would be at home on any table. Same goes for the delicate folded pear slices, quince and honeycomb cream of the “Fallen Leaves” dessert.

Kane’s partner Amber does a wonderful job managing the floor and the straw roof and lumpy walls of their old cottage are full of rustic charm, even as the trolleys laden with gerberas roll by.