“That was the best dining experience I’ve ever had in my life.”
These were the words that left my partner’s mouth the moment we exited Aptos, the new and highly-anticipated fine dining restaurant in Stirling.
This is a man who loves a schnitty at our local ‘Top Pub’ in Willunga as much as he does a great cut of meat cooked on his home barbecue. A bloke of zero airs and graces who appreciates great produce from our local farmers market but isn’t much one for white tablecloths and stuffy silver service. What he (and I) both adore is memory-making in mind-boggling settings and that’s what you get at Aptos.
Much fanfare and focus will continue to swirl around the price of the 16-plus native Australian ingredient-driven menu served in a former 1868 church. At nearly $500 for the set menu (not including the beverage pairings), it’s an investment but for anyone who has dined in top restaurants around the world, it’s a worthy one. We thought it was a bargain. What would you pay to see your favourite musician on stage? I’d rather eat well than see Swifty, any day.
That’s my last mention of the price. There’s too much else to focus on.
Opening an immersive, multi-level dining experience in Adelaide isn’t just brave, it’s smart. South Australians have had a chip on their shoulder for too long. We are the food and wine state and we have the population and the culinary nous to back it up.
Cue Justin James, the US-born chef who formerly raised Restaurant Botanic to globally renowned heights in Adelaide’s CBD.
Here, in the Adelaide Hills, he welcomes a maximum of 14 diners at a time (28 total, across two sittings) to embark on a three-hour adventure through progressive dining spaces.
Senses are tickled before entering the towering building bathed in neon fuchsia-light. It quite literally glows.
Inside, wait staff dressed in paper bark-esque fabric greet guests, guiding them through the multiple spaces that make up Bar Cruz, Bar Mary and Aptos.
An art collection of more than 30 pieces by Australian artists graces the walls. “Hugo Michell helped me with those,” says executive chef Justin as he leads us for a quick pre-meal gander at the outdoor courtyard.
There, a large teepee takes pride of place among a garden planted with native foliage (much of which will be served on plates). A giant gold disco ball hangs inside the tepee. It’s bonkers, and fun.
“The tepee can be booked out or used after your Aptos or Cruz experience,” Justin says. “Or you can just come out here for a drink.”
A large custom-made table also draws the eye. It’s located next to an outdoor kitchen and has a strip of neon lights and water feature running through the length of the tabletop, much like a fountain – of sorts.
“I designed it and the carpenters who built Aptos made it,” Justin adds.
I don’t want to leave but there’s 180 minutes of wow-moments to have inside.
Without giving too much away (it’s not an adventure if you know what’s coming), there’s a dining space that feels like a stylish Danish living room, another in a cavernous exposed stone and brick chasm with an open kitchen view, and a dimly-lit clandestine finale.
My partner, ever the tech-guru, makes note of the sound system by Atlas Harmonic.
Justin appreciates the observation. A lot of thought went into getting the acoustics right. “We have hi-fi speakers throughout the dining spaces and bars,” he says. “We also have seven different playlists throughout.”
One moment we’re listening to ‘Going Down South’ by The Black Keys, the next ‘Good Times’ by Jungle, Justin Timberlake hits, or the atmospheric ‘A Walk’ by Tycho. The music is a backdrop but conversation always takes priority; not once do we strain to hear ourselves speak.
On that note, a novel and welcome addition to each course is a beautifully designed postcard outlining the cornucopia of ingredients used. Read at your leisure.
Lighting also plays a central role throughout each space, spotlighting art pieces and each dish as it arrives.
Case at point, the Coat of Arms course; South Australian red kangaroo marinated in mountain pepper and brushed with burnt macadamia butter and seasoned with a Davidson plum spice mix. A small portion of emu glazed in sticky emu sauce, and white wallaby finished with charred warragal paste.
As traditional cutlery goes, there is none. Marron served in shells, slow-cooked abalone plucked from twigs, kangaroo meatballs gently wrapped in a rosella flower, fish soup slurped through a straw (from an open Murray cod mouth, no less), and savoury jelly (“can you guess what it’s made of?” our waiter asks). We eat it all.
Wild Adelaide Hills venison arrives perched on a deer jaw. Cured scallop (in shell) arrives on an ice bowl, and later, a milkshake is imbibed from an emu egg.
Some dishes will challenge ‘safe’ eaters, but that’s the point. Life is too short to be beige. Lick sunrise lime off a branch, suck the pine cone, eat waffle off bark… and enjoy debriefing with your dining companions afterwards.
Wine pairings – Hills-focused or international – are also thoughtful. Local stars including Deviation Road, Ngeringa, Hahndorf Hill, Scintilla, The Lane, The Other Right, and Honeymoon Vineyards get the pedestal they deserve. Most thrilling of all is the non-alcoholic Temperance menu, built from the ground up with native ingredients. It’s enough to make you wonder why you ever drank booze at all. Bravo.
Aptos opened in May and long after we made our way home, my partner and I are still talking about that special night in Stirling. Aptos is fine dining but it’s fun and in a world of cheap thrills, unnecessary frills and disconnection, that’s exactly what we need right now.
Restaurant Aptos
147 Mount Barker Road, Stirling
restaurantaptos.com
Follow Fifty+SA on Instagram and Facebook, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
