During the year, important and insightful stories are routinely out-clicked by the new-eatery-and-or-bar-opening-over-there type stories. Here are three good features you may have missed.

Publishing online is a delicate balance between fishing and farming. Here at CityMag we’re constantly honing our algorithm and understanding of what stories you’ll bite on, but we’re also interested in presenting articles we believe in and believe you should believe in. The perfect story gets clicks and connects you with more meaningful matters than simply what’s for dinner.

There are plenty of examples of those perfect stories in our digital editor – Johnny von Einem’s – list of CityMag’s most-read articles for the year. And we’re proud to have synced up with you on each and every article in that list.

However, there are many, many stories we spend a lot of time and love on that don’t quite grab your attention. Certainly, there are more than three. But in the following three articles – one from each section of the magazine – we find a compelling narrative about the diversity, the ingenuity and the creativity of South Australia. These stories sum up who we are and where we’re going and it’s our sincere hope you make a little time over the summer to have a read and learn a little more about Adelaide and this great state of ours.

HABITS

Habits is the front section of our magazine and features abundant stories about the regular and repeat rituals you perform as part of a life well-lived. 

01. Carne asada and snapper cerviche on the public BBQ

Last summer we challenged Daniella Guevara Munoz to cook on one of the city’s public barbecues. She conquered the conditions and created one of the most memorable spreads we’ve encountered in the history of Chef Vs Public BBQ. Adelaide’s lukewarm hotplates can be found dotted all over the parklands and we created this recipe section of our magazine as a way to celebrate what a generous resource they are and how effective they’ve been in bringing people out into the public realm to revel in our city’s unique urban design.

Daniella’s recipe for tacos on the BBQ is excellent and you should definitely use it to cook up a unique summer feast for you and your friends these holidays. But – can we just say – last night we had dinner at Daniella’s restaurant in Port Adelaide. We’re not proud to admit it took us more than a year to get down there and sample the goods but should the whole ‘cooking’ thing prove too difficult, visit Daniella in person at La Popular Taqueria.

COMMERCE

Cities revolve around trade. In this section of CityMag we celebrate the engine room of our economy and the innovative businesses redefining what it means to be a success.

Richard Turner

02: Natural Advantage

The daily paper made such a big deal about the billionaire Sanjeev Gupta that you’d be forgiven for thinking he dropped out of the clear blue sky and picked up Arrium Steelworks out of the goodness of his industrialist heart without any South Australian help.

Zen Energy: The South Australian company pitching for global renewable domination was the online title we created to try and help readers of our digital product connect with the amazing story of Richard Turner and his role in bringing Sanjeev Gupta to South Australia. Again – recently – the daily paper wrote about Sanjeev’s plans for Whyalla and how exciting it all is. And it is, very! But you should read what Richard has to say about Whyalla and beyond. Read about Richard’s story, his family’s historic entrepreneurship and the bright future he’s got planned for South Australia here.

CULTURE

Great cities trade more than goods and services  – they are safe places to create meaningful art and exchange ideas that build a more robust society for all.

03. Voices in the trees

If there’s one building that deserves your visitation and this city’s greater appreciation, it’s the Museum of Economic Botany. It’s been a busy year for the beautiful building plonked in the middle of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. Normally reserved for the display of long-dead plant material it’s recently housed very contemporary art exhibitions.

One incredible artwork captured our imagination this year above all others. It combined science with creativity and proved – undeniably – that trees can talk and maybe even sing. Through a synthesiser and a sapling river redgum, artist Heidi Kenyon discovered voices in the trees of the Adelaide Botanic Garden and brought life into the Museum of Economic Botany. Read Johnny von Einem’s wonderful telling of his experience visiting this incredible exhibition back in July of this  year here.