A world-renowned Australian restaurant has scrapped the menu that made it famous.
The critically acclaimed spread at Botanic restaurant will no longer be served on July 17, even though food lovers will travel from around the world to try it.
The South Australian restaurant, which is listed in the world’s 50 best restaurants, has a new executive chef, who wants the menu to reflect that.
Located in Adelaide’s Botanic Gardens, the three-hatted restaurant’s major changes began with a staff shake-up when Justin James handed the kitchen keys to executive chef James Musgrave, formerly of Fervor restaurant in Western Australia’s famed Margaret River region.
Justin James put Restaurant Botanic on the world map with dishes such as garden flowers and green ants, abalone in botanical curry with myrtle sprouts and a sublime emu egg chawanmushi with wallaby tea, caviar and native lemongrass.
The Botanic restaurant received three awards in 2023 and also won South Australia’s best restaurant in 2022 before its menu was removed.
James Musgrave’s exciting new vision is to “push the boundaries of profiling native ingredients from across Australia.”
“Reflecting on my new role, I’m excited to showcase my ideas on food and hospitality,” Musgrave said.
But the place’s passion for native Australian ingredients with a commitment to using produce from the finest artisan and small-batch producers across the country will continue.
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Brown, sea lettuce, samphire and rock lobster is one of the new featured additions to the James Musgrave menu
“I’m looking forward to delving deeper into the rich fabric of native Australian ingredients and taking inspiration from my time at Fervor where we embarked on foraging expeditions alongside Aboriginal elders, taking in stunning landscapes from Esperance to the Kimberleys,” Musgrave added.
The newly appointed executive chef will also draw on his recent stint in Hong Kong in James Sharman’s prestigious One Star House Party kitchen, which gave him experience in the detail and attention required to produce such complex dishes.
The new menu includes a standout dish of rum-roasted Western Australian Marron, slathered with sea lettuce butter made from harvested seaweed and served over fermented pepper and lime paste at sunrise, with a finishing sauce of smoked eel, koji and fragrant pickled lemon myrtle shoots.
Diners trying Musgrave’s new menu will also be able to enjoy crocodile chawanmushi, a subtly steamed Japanese egg custard layered with crocodile bone dashi and hot-smoked crocodile rib meat, finished with a foam of crocodile and vinegar made from aspen leaves and lemon. Those who have tried it have described it as “light” and “divine.”
Food lovers who shy away from trying such unusual flavours only need a quick glance at some of the reviews from amazed diners to be convinced to try the new menu.
Dried aged coral trout roasted over a wood fire, Manjimup truffle puree, nasturtiums and ants. Finished with lemon myrtle buds and koji and smoked eel sauce.
The location is beautiful, intimate and the views of the surrounding 51 hectares of tranquil, manicured gardens create a magical and unique atmosphere.
James Musgrave will take over as executive chef at Botanic restaurant on 18 July
“Botanic Restaurant sets the gold standard for fine dining in Australia,” the five-star review said.
Another agreed: ‘The most spectacular meal I had in Australia. The menu was beautifully crafted and the food was absolutely delicious and magnificent.’
‘I’ve been to some amazing restaurants and this is definitely the best restaurant of them all. The service was amazing, all the staff were lovely. The restaurant itself is beautiful and I love that you can see how the kitchen works,’ another diner gushed.
The venue is intimate and light-filled and the views of the surrounding 51 hectares of tranquil, manicured gardens create a magical and unique atmosphere.
Menu pricing is $365 per person with a selection of additional drink combinations available, including ‘Temperance’, a ‘complex and adventurous’ selection of non-alcoholic juices, infusions, ferments, kombuchas and mocktails, for $165.
Alcohol pairings range from $225 per person to a dizzying $950 per person for an aptly named ‘The Creme de la Creme’ experienced pairing featuring luxury libations from some of the most prestigious brands in Australia and around the world.
