“On my drives between the Barossa Valley and my Port Willunga home, I sometimes stop in at Chinatown to pick up excellent Chinese from this family run business. God, it’s good – their tea-smoked duck, the beautiful steamed chicken with ginger and shallot, fantastic fried rice. And salt and pepper tofu – my go-to comfort food.”

“I absolutely love this tiny café. The owners also have a bread shop called Dough at the Central Market so they make the best toasties using their own sourdough. My pick is the croque monsieur. They also do a twist on a Reuben sandwich using kimchi with the pastrami and cheese instead of sauerkraut.”

“Etica is an institution that serves wood-oven-cooked pizza, thin and beautiful like in Naples. How can you go wrong with a traditional Napoletana using fior di latte? We’ve had an influx of pizza places in the past couple of years but the owners at Etica have remained true to what they do. They have such integrity and use ethically sourced produce.”

The distance from plant to plate is measured in metres at this elegant fine-dining spot nestled in the leafy Botanic Garden. Leaves, herbs and more unusual botanicals plucked from the lush surrounds form the basis of a spectacular dining experience that encourages you to forget the outside world. Expect to spend at least four hours navigating unforgettable dishes in a faultless distillation of place and time that delivers such singular ingredients as fallen bunya bunya branches or shiitake-flavoured fudge.

This Adelaide city outpost of the iconic Barossa restaurant Fino follows the same simple formula that has made its sister venue so beloved. Front of house maestro Sharon Romeo provides generous hospitality and executive chef David Swain has a knack for letting impeccable fresh produce shine in a menu that mirrors the rustic/refined dynamic of the venue’s exposed red brick walls and copper pipes. And yes, the dreamy silk-like crema catalana has made it onto the menu.

Fire-blackened timber walls set the scene at this Leigh Street hotspot where flame is king. Save on a theatre ticket and grab a seat at the bar to watch umami-glazed proteins and share plates emerge from the smoke-wreathed yakitori pit. For a quick fix, adjacent Shōmen serves up bowls of hearty ramen with bacon bone broth from the same kitchen.

Welcome to Fugazzi: the restaurant at the intersection of rich Italian flavours, a lavish New York-style setting and a distinctly Adelaidean hospitality. The Italo-American diner seamlessly knots these three influences together, resulting in a relaxed approach to refined produce, from Parisian caviar to 5+ Wagyu scotch fillet (also known as the "Rolls Royce" of beef). The decor is its own delicious offering, with soaring ceilings, cosy banquette seating and, crowning the bar, a hefty helping of cream-veined marble rich merlot tones.

A vine-clad pergola and cobblestones underfoot lend the sunlit dining room in Adelaide’s most forward-leaning Italian restaurant a relaxed, piazza-like atmosphere that belies its location on busy Pirie Street. Just as appealing is the menu that’s updated daily with refined micro-seasonal share plates and handmade pasta. Past favourites include thick strips of pappardelle smothered in blue swimmer crab and pearls of smoked salmon roe, complemented by a wine list that foregrounds elegant Italian varietals.

Eye-catching modern art, blue velvet chairs and mirrored ceilings ensure the Sofitel’s ninth-floor brasserie has a lot more personality than your average hotel restaurant. The wine list caters to Champagne (and Burgundy) tastes with imported bottles alongside more moderately priced local equivalents. The kitchen gives a slick update to Gallic classics such as a confit duck that includes a sweet juicy leg with a Provençal-style white bean cassoulet.

Don’t second guess yourself on the way up; reaching this exclusive eighth-floor haunt requires two separate elevators. The reward is a broad terrace bar that seduces Adelaide’s A-list with commanding views over the city, private cabanas separated by greenery and an excellent selection of South Australian wines (some poured direct from the barrel). Cocktails laden with seasonal produce, a beer list that always includes a few premium aged bottles and snacks from the adjoining mod oz restaurant seal the deal.