Melt Pizza Tapas Wine
1/160 King William Road
Hyde Park South Australia 5061
W www.melt.net.au
E pizzeria@melt.net.au
T +61 8 8272 8186
F +61 8 82725152
OPEN Wednesday to Monday, 11.30 am till late, FOOD ALL DAY
FOOD After a 47 soufflé night, my last night at my last Adelaide Festival Supper Club at Red Ochre Grill the day had finished unpacking the van with the beautiful girls who work for me who had been doing a dinner elsewhere. My day after a 7am start had finished at around 3.30am and the idea of a breakfast comprising good wine and great food that I had nothing to do with the preparation was utterly compelling. I might be old, but I detest rules, especially on Sunday and have long since given up getting a good breakfast worth eating in Adelaide on a Sunday at a time that suits me. Perhaps it is rules that separates a small city like Adelaide from a big city like Melbourne or Shanghai, but we need to understand that the tourist dollar whilst diminishing appreciates availability and just doesn’t get some of the self–imposed rules of Adelaide dining.
Melt is a great little restaurant that doesn’t suffer from rules. No dress rules, in fact you could probably turn up in your jim–jams and no one would notice. Despite the fact that is it is the middle of the suburbs of ’ladies who lunch a lot’ their clientele is diverse and laid back from blokes who look like they might have belonged to an important rock band in their distant past, to girls with gloriously long legs and stilettos. Melt has an enviably mixed age demographics of other diners, to single older diners like myself. Melt is the kind of place where I think I could rest my head on the bar for a few sweet moments after a hard long work night without anyone assuming me to be blind drunk or even notice. Get the picture?
Restaurant manager Danny Riley is smart and professional with his eye always on the ball. Smart because he remembers important stuff like what people like whether it be food or wine and his product knowledge is excellent with both food and wine. Add to this equation chef Scot Kuerschner comes from the hallowed training school of the long since closed Mezes restaurant that also sent into the world Jordon Theordoris of Aquacaf fame and James Brew, widely travelled international chef and sous chef at Christine Manfield’s highly acclaimed Paramount restaurant in Sydney for the past two years. Their cooking shares a common passion for fresh and seasonal and Scot and Jordan have stoically stuck to the KIS KIF principles of Mezes chef owner Elias Kathreptis; keep it simple keep it fresh!
Mussels with tomato and basil and brain and parsley salad were ordered. The South Australian Spring Bay mussels were exquisite, perfectly cooked they were sweet, plump and succulent with just the right amount of tasty just warmed tomato and massed chopped fresh basil. The fact that I chose to eat with my fingers didn’t go unnoticed and a finger bowl miraculously appeared. Hurray! The brain salad was complex with paper–thin slices of lemon, massed parsley and croutons but the brain content was miserly against the bread content and whilst it didn’t totally spoil the dish next time I’ll ask for double the brains and happily pay the difference. Flavours of the brain salad were excellent and satisfying. From my vantage point at the end of the bar close to the kitchen it was possible to see a number of dishes prepared and finished. Pizzas are modern with all manner of different toppings but they come thin and crisp with just the right amount of topping. All bore the simple and fresh label, were generously proportioned and looked terrific. One of the pleasures of the food offering at Melt is that chef Scot Kuerschner does not get stuck in a rut and is always exploring something new. There is always an offal choice and frequently also a game dish (especially in winter). The food at Melt should not be taken out of context it is simple but delivers with good flavours and skillful cooking and the whole package, food, wine and service are enjoyable.
Desserts are not the focus at Melt but you can always move next door to The Pot and enjoy the service of the South American charmer Carlos and enjoy one of their very good desserts. Sibling restaurants the food is very different but they share a focus on wine and service.
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WINE is the passion of owner Simon Kardachi and sommelier Carlos Alvarez and it is that passion that always delivers an interesting list at both Melt and The Pot. At Melt a glass of the Tuscan 07 Babo Sangiovese $9.50 went superbly with the mussels and didn’t falter with the more delicate flavours of the brain salad. A dusty nose that lingers like the memory of a hot summers’ day in the north of Italy or the words from a page from Goethe’s Italian Journey, a refined crushed cherry stone palate that lasts, and lasts, this is a wine initially with sharp tannins indicating a wine that will only improve with some cellaring. Thirty minutes in the glass this brilliant and delicious wine opens like an exotic cactus flower at the first signs of daylight warmth into a balance rarely found in such a young wine.
The Victorian King Valley wine company Pizzini has stamped their worth in the Australian market place for the exemplarary wines made from Italian varietals. On a list that rarely doubles up with wine companies Pizzini wines are well represented and a glass of a previously un–tasted grape variety Brachetto their 09 Pizzini Brachetto is a great find and just $8 a glass on the list at Melt. A pink Moscato this wine is the definitive aperitivo because it lacks the residual cloying sugar of most Moscatos. Whilst this residual sweetness can be wonderful with fruity desserts embellished with rich cream ice creams they do not lend themselves to drinking without food. The Pizzini Brachetto might be a stunning food companion but equally it is a stand–alone drink perfect for a summer’s day it could easily replace a more expensive French or Australian fizz and receive equal acclaim. The blackboard wine list at Melt is ever changing and their wines by the glass a perfect way to explore new and interesting wines that you might like to purchase to cellar or just drink at home.
OWNER/MANAGERS — Simon Kardachi, Ben McLeod,
Justin Brooks
RESTAURANT MANAGER — Danny Riley
CHEF — Scot Kuerschner
Author’s note – a complimentary glass of the delicious NV Henriot Champagne $16 was accepted.
