“We serve food and wine that has a story that we, as a business, connect to. Growing our own fruits and vegetables is the driving force behind everything we do – from menu, to wine list and cocktails, the garden is interwoven. We are not trying to be too fancy, just simple food, grown and cooked with integrity.”

Steamed SA prawn dumplings with roasted chilli oil; lime-pickled St. Vincent Gulf garfish with beetroot, avocado, and buttermilk dressing; and toasted meringue with lime curd, pomegranate, yoghurt sorbet, and lemon balm.

Guests at The Salopian Inn often talk of feeling nourished, a wonderful by-product of Chef Karena Armstrong’s total connection to community and region. Possibly because of the delicious food – and this, in a wine region well known for its gastronomy – but we think they’re right. They may not know that the restaurant has a “use it all” ethos, that fresh produce is delivered daily by Karena herself from her own garden, and that green waste is returned to that soil as compost. But they feel it instinctively from the truly seasonal menu, invariably garnished with herbs, leaves and flowers, what Karena calls “garden fluff”.

“It’s not complicated; just nicely done, generous and full of flavour: the kind of food you want when you’re drinking a bottle of good wine with a friend.”

–John Lethlean, The Australian