The always-stunning Serafino Wines have released an all-new menu full of delicious, local ingredients to tickle our tastebuds.

With the help of his team, Head Chef Daniel Armon, has created the perfect winter warming menu that takes guests on a culinary adventure, paired with wonderful service and a relaxing atmosphere.

Daniel’s passion for food is clearly evident through the perfect presentation and delicious flavour combinations in each dish, and he has created meals that are sure to please even the fussiest of eaters.

The Beetroot and Chèvre Tortellini is served with baci soil, beetroot cured eschallot, rhubarb gel and walnut foam. This dish was beautiful in presentation, having a range of textures and colours that caught the eye. The vibrant pinks and reds of the beetroot tortellini was stunning; and the flavour profile matched the beautiful dish. The Tortellini held a lovely light and creamy centre that complimented the strong sour tang of the pickled onion, while the sweeter beetroot disk helped smooth the tang and hold a lovely textural crunch to the soft pasta. The baci soil was slightly sweet, almost like a savoury cookie crumb, which balanced well with the walnut foam that held a subtle nutty flavour. The foam paired with the creamy tortellini and the sweet smooth rhubarb gel, which gave slightly sweeter tones to pair with the savoury pasta. Overall, the tortellini was a delicious and light dish that was the perfect way to start our day.

The Quail is served with confit egg yolk morels, a carrot and fennel puree, chervil hollandaise and red vein sorrel. The runny and creamy confit egg yolk complimented the perfectly cooked, tender quail meat that held a slight crunch to the skin. An earthy, almost sour tang, came from the soft mushrooms that complimented the crunch of the carrot pieces, giving a sweet and savoury balance with the meat and yolk. The fennel pure was lovely and smooth while the chervil hollandaise sauce gave a balancing tang to the beautiful and creamy yolk and tender meat, tying in the savoury and sweeter flavours.

The Ora King Salmon and Liquorice is served with a chamomile broth, wakame, pickled eggplant, edamame, nori cannoli and bonito cream. The beautiful raw salmon fillet is rolled in an in-house made liquorice powder and then sliced. The liquorice flavour is prominent but compliments the smooth silky salmon meat that is slightly smoked in chamomile tea leaves. The complimenting chamomile broth balanced the strong liquorice flavour and the tang from the sweet pickled eggplant. The nori cannoli held richer, slightly salty flavours with lifting tones from the light bonito cream centre, which added a sweeter contrast that lifted the tang of the crunchy wakame and smooth, creamy edamame beans. The dish held a lovely balance of flavours, with each flavour profile being prominent but not too overpowering and working well together.

The Abrolhos Island Scallops Ceviche is served with pumpkin, avocado emulsion, lime, cauliflower crisps and cured egg yolk. The silky raw scallops held a mild sweet flavour that paired well with the smooth pumpkin puree. The puree had a gentle bitterness from the included spices. The creamy and cool avocado emulsion lightened the dish, balancing the earthier flavours of the cauliflower crisps, while the lime gave off a subtle citrus tang to tie in the stronger flavours. Overall, it was a soft and light dish that left us feeling satisfied.

The Saltbush Lamb Dumplings are made with a lamb dashi consommé, pickled daikon, garlic scapes and tobiko. The braised lamb neck filling was hearty and warm and we could taste the gamey flavour in the meat. The meat was lovely, soft and tender and paired well with the soft and silky dumpling shell and the sweet pop of the fish roe. The tender shredded lamb held lovely rich earthy tones that paired with the sweet and sour tang of the pickled daikon. The dish was lovely and full of flavour, with the lamb adding a twist on the mostly prominent Japanese flavours. The dumpling dish was also beautiful in presentation, with the subtle white and green complimented by the vibrant pop of orange from the fish roe. Overall, a very delicious dish with a lovely balance of flavours; it was one of our favourites of the day.

The Paroo Kangaroo Ravioli is served with a Jerusalem artichoke cream, Jerusalem artichoke crisps, citrus, coffee oil, shaved macadamia and lemon foam. The Rich kangaroo meat was beautiful and tender inside the soft ravioli shell and held earthy, almost smoky flavours. The Jerusalem artichoke cream and crisps gave a prominent flavour and earthy balance to the light ravioli and the rich meat; while also adding balancing soft and crunchy textures to the dish. The macadamia shavings gave a subtle sweet, nutty lift, complimenting the dish and its richer tones. The lemon foam gave off a sweeter tang with the citrus lifting the artichoke flavour and the deeper flavours of the kangaroo.

The Sea Urchin Spaghetti is made with a saffron cream, bottarga, winter truffles and pepper. The soft creamy saffron sauce had a semi-sweet flavour profile and held a subtle spice tang from the pepper. The sea urchin is soft and almost creamy in texture with a slightly sweeter meat flavour. The urchin paired perfectly with the earthier, slightly musky truffles and the smooth pasta. The sea urchin spaghetti is not too complicated or full of ingredients, however, the lovely subtle flavours pair wonderfully together, creating a lovely balanced dish.

The Pork and Mustard Fruits is made with pork fillet, late season persimmon, quince, apple, fennel cream and pistachio. The delicious cream paired lovely with the perfectly cooked pork fillet, which held a slightly pink centre. The pork balanced with the subtle earthy fennel flavours that gave a slight peppery tang. The flavours of the pork meat paired perfectly with the sweeter permission, quince and the apple pieces, giving a beautiful balance of sweet and savoury tones, while the pistachio crunch gave a textural balance to the soft fruits and added a nuttier flavour to compliment the sweet. The soft and tender pork dish held not only a beautiful balance of flavours, but was also beautiful in presentation. The Pork and Mustard Fruits wad another favourite dish of the day.

The Lenswood Duck was served with a muntrie emulsion, almond cream, salt baked celeriac, radicchio and freeze-dried raspberries. The radicchio red cabbage was soft with a slight crunch and gave off strong and prominent bitter tones, which balanced with its sweeter, earthy celeriac stuffed centre. The duck was beautiful and tender and had a lovely thick, salty skin. The smooth almond cream gave balancing sweeter flavours, with the tang of the muntrie emulsion balancing the bitter and richer flavours of the cabbage and duck. An added sweet tang came from the freeze-dried raspberry powder, an unusual garnish that complimented the duck beautifully.

The Market Fish was a lovely butter poached Snapper fillet, served with smoked potato, coastal greens nage, cultured cream and paired with a squid ink tuile. The soft fish had a beautiful seasoned skin and was slightly creamy in flavour from the butter. This complimented the smooth and creamy potato that gave off lovely subtle smoky tones, and balanced well with the added creamy dressing. The squid ink tuile gave a lovely deeper flavour and crunch, balancing with the lighter flavours of the snapper fillet and providing a texture balance to the relatively soft dish.

The Kangarilla Beef Fillet was served with a duck fat potato gratin, pickled shallots, porcini, enoki and a malpas jus. The beef fillet was cooked well, soft and tender, and gave off a slightly smoky flavour. The pickled shallots gave a subtle sweet tang to balance the heavier and richer meat, which was the perfect pairing to the duck fat potato gratin. The potato was soft and creamy with an almost earthy tone from the delicious duck fat. The crispy fried enoki mushrooms gave a lovely texture balance to the tender steak and held strong earthy tones, while the pickled enoki mushrooms were softer in texture and gave a sharp tang that lifted the deeper savoury flavours.

We also enjoyed Brussel Sprouts as our side dish; served with black garlic, pancetta and lemon beurre noisette. The brussel sprouts were perfectly cooked, soft and light with a slight crunch and a lifting garlic tang that was not too overpowering. The lemon butter added sweetness and gave a slight tang to balance the earthy sprouts and garlic.

For dessert, we were treated to a Rhubarb Cheesecake served with macadamia cookie, mascarpone and lemon, smoked macadamia cream and rhubarb variations. The sweet and tart flavours from the rhubarb balanced well together. The macadamia cookie was not overly sweet, giving a lovely crumble that paired with the subtle smoky flavours of the smooth macadamia cream; giving a slightly browned caramelised flavour. The non-traditional cheesecake was more of a mousse in texture, and was lovely, smooth and silky with a delicious creamy flavour. The lemon, mascarpone and rhubarb paired perfectly, and gave a lovely balance of sweet and slightly savoury flavours that weren’t too overpowering and sickly. We thoroughly enjoyed the Rhubarb Cheesecake and were left wanting more of it!

The Pear Gratin was served with a crème analgise, brioche, candied walnuts and eucalyptus.
The soft brioche outer ring was lovely and light, similar in texture to a sponge, with a lovely sweet pear centre. The soft, sweet and refreshing dish balanced and lifted from the eucalyptus tones coming through. The candied walnuts gave a nutty, earthy flavour, with a sweet crunch from it’s candied outer. The Pear Gratin held a lovely balance of textures and flavours—a sweet dish but not too overpowering with the earthiness from the walnuts and the pear itself. Overall, the dish was light and refreshing from the balance of eucalyptus, the fluffy brioche and the cool pear pieces.

The Mirror Tart was a chocolate and wattle seed tart served with mandarin ice cream and a mandarin crisp. The tart gave a delicious balance of chocolate and orange flavours. The rich and decadent chocolate was soft and smooth, not unlike that of a thick mousse, with lovely sweet mandarin flavours to balance the richer tones. The mandarin gave a sweet citrus tang to balance the different chocolate tiers and helped to lighten the dish. There were also sweet citrus notes in the candied tuile, which paired well with the cool and velvety smooth ice cream and coco powder that also contained sweet mandarin flavours. The Mirror Tart was another delicious dish and the perfect dessert to finish our tasting.

All the dishes on the new menu were exceptional in both presentation and flavour, and it was clear that Head Chef, Daniel Armon, took great care into creating something elegant and sophisticated but for all to enjoy.

It is always a pleasure visiting Serafino Wines in the stunning McLaren Vale area, so why not come down and make a day of it? Sit inside the warm restaurant and treat yourself to a lovely dining experience accompanied by gorgeous views and award-winning wines.

Words by Cyndal King

WHERE: 39 Kangarilla Rd, McLaren Vale