Restaurants: LOC, Adelaide, a small but perfectly formed natural wine bar and restaurant
Website: https://locdotcom.au/
There’s something very special and intimate about dining at LOC, a natural wine bar and restaurant in Adelaide.
The concept is brilliant. There’s no permanent chef. Instead, there are brief residencies by chefs who like the challenge of pulling off a multicourse menu from just an induction hob and microwave on a table that is actually in the dining room: there is no dedicated kitchen. And the wine list is ever-changing but is solely focused on zero-zero wines – wines made with no additions, not even a small amount of sulfites.
This sounds simple, but to deliver something excellent in these conditions must be a challenge. I dined solo, and came away having one of my best meals of the year.
The menu is on a chalkboard, but the sensible way to go is take the feed-me option, and try pretty much the whole menu. In terms of wine, I settled for a similar arrangement. Just pour me what you think is interesting. If you want to order by the glass, then the menu is similar to what you’d find at Dan’s in London – the wines are sold by style rather than by name. It’s friendly for most consumers who otherwise would be faced with strange names and no real way of deciding what to choose. Each glass is A$18, which seems fair, and brings interesting wines into play, not just the cheapest.
Lewis McDonald is the wine guy here, and he has an interesting list. All the picks were good ones, and all the wines were clean.
Chef when I visited Oswald Barret, and everything was really good.
I began with some Tasmanian apple cider and Comte, a brilliant pairing.
Dressed Mandarins
Oyster
Clams, pickles, potato, native thyme
Baudin Noir, Lentils, Celeriac
Beef shin and sauce vert (not pictured)
There was a dessert choice, but by this stage I was beaten. A brilliant way to end my stay in Adelaide. I would add, though, that this style of restaurant is not going to be to everyone’s taste. If you want white tablecloth fine dining, don’t come here. But I loved it.
