How to keep money in the pockets of Adelaide women in business when you're eating or drinking out in the CBD.
80+ ways to dine out and support The Female Economy in Adelaide
As a publication that spends most of its time chronicling happenings within the food and beverage scene in Adelaide, it’s understandable that readers, like yourself, might occasionally turn to us with questions about the local industry.
One query coming up more and more often is why there is not more coverage of women in the hospitality industry. Often this comes in the form of an open-ended question seeking discussion, other times it will appear as criticism of a small business for having an all-male ownership group.
A couple of notes:
– This list is by no means definitive and is based solely on CityMag‘s prior reporting.
– We’ve limited the list to women in Adelaide’s hospitality industry because this is where the conversation amongst our readership is focussed.
– The businesses are loosely in reverse chronological order as per our reportage.
Through CityMag‘s reporting, we too can only interpret the industry as being overrepresented by men in ownership positions. The underlying cause, ongoing effects, and possible fix to the male-tipped scales, though, are each difficult to discern.
Anecdotally, we’ve heard stories (often prefaced with “this is off the record”) from women who’ve had challenging relationships with landlords, either highly risk-averse or overreaching, though we also hear of similar experiences from men. We also know of women who choose to be silent owners in a business, and therefore not named in media.
Online, some commenters have pitched blame at financial institutions and the gender disparity in lending practices; research by NAB, World Bank, The International Small Business Journal, and Venture Capital: An International Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance muddies that theory, though none of the articles speak directly to the hospitality industry or specifically to the Adelaide market.
The truth lies at the end of much research, and we hope the conversation continues.
For CityMag‘s part, we’ve taken the sentiment behind the questions and comments we’ve received and sifted through our history of reportage to produce a guide to the city (inspired by similar concerns in the United States about black disenfranchisement in small business, as per this episode of Trigger Warning with Killer Mike and this episode of The Nod), to help you vote with your wallet and keep money in The Female Economy – or, the community of women in business in Adelaide.
Golden Boy
Golden Boy’s co-owner, Sondra Deering, recently spoke to us about her collaboration with Sunny’s – Sunny Boy. We’ve also got a look at the restaurant’s schmick new basement bar coming very soon, so stay tuned.
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Golden Boy
BA:M Adelaide + BA:M Tori
Owners Rose Heo and Seth Park previously ran Bacchus Karaoke Bar before launching Korean restaurant BA:M Adelaide. CityMag recently caught up with the duo at the launch of their new just-off-Peel-Street concept, BA:M Tori.
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BA:M Adelaide
BA:M Tori
The Donburi House
Lulu He was formerly the head chef at Akimitsu on Hindley Street before she founded The Donburi House with her partner, Ping Liew. The menu here was designed with daily consumption in mind.
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The Donburi House
Wing It + Piccoli Piatti + Therapy Cocktail Bar + La Rambla
It was a busy couple of weeks for the group ownership team of Tom Smith, Kyle Young and Steph Gibbs, who opened basement sports bar Wing It and modern Italian spot Piccoli Piatti within a two-week period. The group also owns Peel Street venues La Rambla and Therapy Cocktail Bar.
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Wing It
Piccoli Piatti
Therapy Cocktail Bar
La Rambla
Ragi’s Spicery + Naancho Naancho Man
Proprietor of Ragi’s Spicery on Hutt Street, Ragini Dey is an Adelaide hospitality icon. The Australian’s food critic, John Lethlean, rightly sung her praises back in 2012, but we only recently spoke with the chef in the lead up to her Tasting Australia 2019 event Mumbai to Adelaide. In the months since, she has also opened neighbouring venue Naancho Naancho Man. Ragi also regularly holds one-off dinners, packed with great food and insight into Indian cuisine and culture.
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Ragi’s Spicery
Naancho Naancho Man
Summertown Studio
If you know music in Adelaide, you will recognise Sharni Honor and Sarah Bradford, who run Porch Sessions events with Little Acorn’s Sian Walden. If you’ve visited the duo’s recently opened co-working space, retail store, coffee shop and creative hub, Summertown Studio, you will also recognise Craig (above, seated and with a faraway stare). Sharni was also recently named as one of InDaily‘s 40 Under 40 in 2019.
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Summertown Studio
Red October + Suzie Wong + Biblitheca Bar and Book Exchange
Marina Tazhdynova and Roman Tazhdynov first announced Red October in 2017, which opened in the historic Quelltaler House, and they’ve since solidified their restaurant as the best venue in Adelaide for Russian fare. Above is an image from their Russian dumpling festival, held last month. Marina and Roman also own Suzie Wong (the secret bar downstairs at Red October) and Bibliotheca Bar and Book Exchange
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Red October
Suzie Wong
Bibliotheca Bar & Book Exchange
Fun Tea
We featured Fun Tea, owned by Catherine Zhou and Jason Duan, in our round up of Adelaide’s best bubble tea.
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Fun Tea
Momentea
Another listing in our piece on Adelaide’s best boba is Momentea, which recently opened under the stewardship of Maggie Zhu and Alvin Liu.
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Momentea
Sibling
We love a story of an Adelaide expat returning home, and especially when they do so and then open a space as inviting as Sibling. We recently spoke to co-owner Caitlin Duff about the café’s move into evening trade on Fridays and Saturdays.
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Sibling
Scullery
We first met the Scull team – Sharon Lam and Damien Foo – in a market when they were trading at a market under the name ‘Booch’. We reached out for a profile and they told us they were in the process of changing their name to Scull and would soon be opening Adelaide’s first kombucha taproom, Scullery.
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Scull Kombucha
The Motorcycle Society
Café and motorcycle workshop The Motorcycle Society was founded by a small team, including husband and wife Gerard and Jospehine Otimi.
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The Motorcycle Society
Fleur Social
Another story of a South Australian returnee – this time of native Barossan Sarah Sharkey, who brought home a Canuck, Ryan Remillard, and together founded the Nuriootpa café and flower shop, Fleur Social.
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Fleur Social
Sparkke at the Whitmore
We’ve long been a fan of Sparkke Change Beverage Company’s brews (including this Strawberry Balsamic Blonde Ale), and we were excited to hear in September last year the team would be opening up in the Whitmore. We stopped by ahead of their official launch weekend for tips on what to drink, and reported most recently on Emma McCaskill joining the team. Head brewer Agi Gajic was also named in InDaily‘s 40 Under 40 in 2019.
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Sparkke at the Whitmore
First Order
At the base of WOTSO Workspace, Anya Sereda has created a beautifully light-filled café in First Order, that both exists in the heart of the city and feels like an oasis away from the CBD hustle. You can now also stop by on Friday nights for Russian small plates, wine and vodka for two.
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First Order
Stall 1195
Betty Bird, Carlo Russo, and Tansy (middle) know homely hospitality. You should visit them.
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Stall 1195
Adelaide UniBar
The UniBar is back! Thanks to Aaron Sandow, Kim Littler and Gareth Lewis.
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UniBar Adelaide
Nathan Bakes
After starting in pop-up formats, Hilary Schubert-Jones and her husband Nathan recently brought their vegan cakes into a bricks-and-mortar frontage.
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Nathan Bakes
8020BK
Three chefs and an accountant opened a restaurant and it was delicious. The chefs, Vareevan Suntharaphai, Seksan Suntharaphai and Pattra Wongkhamchan, all met while working in the kitchen a block away at Gondola Gondola.
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8020BK
Shibui Desserts + For the love of dessert
Shibui’s desserts at their Grote Street shopfront are insane and delicious, and even more so when the team heads out into their experimental festival food stall outlet. Lisa Chao, Quang Nguyen and Thy Nguyen know how to get Instagram excited about sweets.
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Shibui
Naaz on Pulteney
Two couples from Iran, Mali Ershad and Omid Moghaddami, and Parivash Nezhad and Farhad Meshki, opened a Persian restaurant on Pulteney Street and named it after Mali and Omid’s daughter, Niknaaz. It’s a very wholesome story.
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Naaz on Pulteney
Unico Zelo
Laura Carter and her husband Brendan have been making great wine and gin for a long time now (and also perfume, for a time). We recently spoke to Laura about sustainability in the industry ahead of her appearance at City & Vines, and she also led an all-female team for Unico Zelo’s 2019 vintage.
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Unico Zelo
Harvest
Applewood Distillery
Karma + Plume
We’ve been hooked on Karma and Crow for a long time now, and spoke with owner Janie Kammer a little while ago about the café’s gift shop (before it moved into the café proper). We’re also keen to see Plume, Janie’s upcoming bar adjoining the Karma space, which we wrote about back in December.
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Karma and Crow
MiMi
Napachama Hongsakaola started in the Plus 82 group as a chef in their first restaurant, Pocha, before she came on as a partner and head chef at MiMi on Sturt Street.
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MiMi
HD Eatery
Shinae Haider and her husband, Syed, have been serving goods on McHenry Street since 2015. They recently rebranded their space as HD Eatery and added a very small bar with Little Bang beer and a wine list curated by East End Cellars.
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HD Eatery
Diaspora Kouzina
Sister restaurant to Louca’s Seafood & Grill, a few doors down on Pulteney Street, Diaspora Kouzina was opened by a trio of restaurateurs: Angela Papas, Katerina Nikou, and Peter Louca.
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Diaspora Kouzina
New Jerusalem
Monica Claughton commands the kitchen at New Jerusalem on Kensington Road, a restaurant she opened with her husband, Daniel. The two are also working to build an orphanage in Monica’s home state of Aweil in South Sudan.
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New Jerusalem
Gang Gang
Nina Hadinata and Morgen Wynn are never not slinging burgers from their Gang Gang food truck. We spoke with the duo in November last year ahead of their appearance at Bowerbird Design Market, and they hinted at an upcoming bricks-and-mortar spot in Unley.
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Gang Gang
Little Khmer Kitchen
Sreymom Lund – AKA Mom – opened her Cambodian eatery in what was formerly the Gourmet Sausage Shop in Central Market Arcade after two and half years working at Jamface.
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Little Khmer Kitchen
Levant + Cheeseburger + Not Guilty Blends
We met the family Al-Sweedy back in 2016 at the opening of their first Levant Eatery, where the whole family was pitching in – pictured above is Mum Faten, siblings Husam and Zainab, and sister-in-law Zena. The business has since expanded to include Cheeseburger, also on Hindley street, and a second Levant on Pirie Street.
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Levant
Cheeseburger
Not Guilty Blends
Fall From Grace
Gill Gordon-Smith, founder of Fall From Grace, is often referred to as the Godmother of Wine in South Australia, and her influence cannot be overstated. On Friday nights she hosts wine tastings at her intimate wine shop in Aldinga, where you’re guaranteed to find great wine and valuable insight. And if you see a bottle of Lolita, Fall From Grace’s foray into orange wine – buy it.
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Fall From Grace
Seppeltsfield Road Distillers
Did you hear the one about the ex-police officer / classical french horn player who opened up a distillery in the Barossa? If not, you should read about Nicole Durdin, founder of Seppeltsfield Road Distillers.
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Seppeltsfield Road Distillers
Food Lore
Sisters Megan Lunn, Chelsea Johnson and Nikki Lunn grew up in their parent’s Kangaroo Island restaurant and inevitably became hospitality vendors themselves. After operating a food truck or two, the team opened up Food Lore at the base of the University of South Australia’s Cancer Research Institute (right next to MOD).
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Food Lore
Nano
Imagine the East End without Nano and Amalfi. It’s not great, right? This is truly dystopic alternate reality is one without the influence of Filomena and Stefano Capoccio. The duo sold Amalfi almost 20 years ago, but Nano is still one of CityMag‘s favourite cafés. We held a piazza party there in 2017, Stefano showed us how to barbecue mango, and we included Nano in our exploration of Adelaide’s early coffee culture, our pasta guide series, and our round up of the CBD’s best $10 breakfasts.
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Nano
Manon
Manon Wine, run by Monique Millton and Tim Webber, is one of a multitude of wineries from Basket Range in the Adelaide Hills who have set the agenda for contemporary discussions around South Australian wine in recent years. We spoke with Monique in our series on the origins of Basket Range as a wine hub.
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Manon Wine
Commune of Buttons
Commune of Buttons is another centrepiece of discussions around the future of South Australian wine, and founder Sophie Button was also instrumental in bringing together The Festival at Basket Range.
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Commune of Buttons
Honki Tonki + Sit Lo
City workers in the West End have a lot to thank Phuong Thai Nguyen and Vinh Nguyen for – namely great lunch options. Sit Lo and Honki Tonki were CityMag go-tos back when we were situated on Clubhouse Lane, and UniSA City West students know where to get the best dumplings on campus.
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Honki Tonki
Sit Lo
Robe Town Brewery
If you enjoy weird beer and travelling from Adelaide in a south-easterly direction, you’re surely familiar with Kristi and Maris Biezaitis at Robe Town Brewery.
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Robe Town Brewery
Munooshi
We are big fans of the munooshi at Munooshi Café, owned by Dee and Caled Osman.
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Munooshi
La Popular Taqueria
La Popular Taqueria is one of many great reasons to visit Port Adelaide. Founder Daniella Guevara Munoz showed us how to cook carne asada and snapper ceviche on a public BBQ (including making tortilla from scratch).
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La Popular Taqueria
Tell Henry
Sharon Mackay and her husband Brad Bonar opened a coffee shop, Tell Henry, in the very underserved (at the time) Kent Town district, just outside the city. They’ve since expanded to Gilbert Street. Sharon, who is also a landscape architect, recently wrote on our pages about the experience of opening Tell Henry I. We also featured the café in our City Bagel Guide.
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Tell Henry Kent Town
Sun Mi’s Sushi
Sun Mi Kim now serves great food at Sun Mi’s Sushi in the Central Market, but in a former life she was an Olympic volleyball player for South Korea. Ask her about it next time you go in for lunch. (Order the Kimchi Chigae, a side of Bindaedok, and mug of hot green tea.)
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Sun Mi’s Sushi
Ambleside Distillers
Trudy and Steve Dickson built a distillery in their backyard in Hahndorf. You can visit it. You should visit it.
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Ambleside Distillers
3rd by NNQ + Little NNQ + NNQ
NNQ is a family dynasty, now under the stewardship of Jennifer Luong, who expanded the Woodville restaurant’s influence to Gouger Street with Little NNQ and King William Street with 3rd by NNQ.
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3rd by NNQ
Little NNQ
Nghi Ngân Quán
Hey Jupiter
Not a day goes by we don’t catch ourselves daydreaming of Hey Jupiter’s pork belly sandwich (though it was not our pick for Just One Thing). Jacqueline Lodge and Christophe Zauner recently expanded their restaurant and it’s offering, and Jacquie also spoke with us in our look into how restaurants were embracing (or not) Uber Eats in 2017.
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Hey Jupiter
Leabrook Bakery
We heard former Magill Estate pastry chef Cheryse Zagler was opening a bakery, so we went, and it was as great as we knew it was going to be.
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Leabrook Bakehouse and Patisserie
Vietnamese Laundry + Hotel Longtime
Tin Fahey and husband Alex found great success with Vietnamese Laundry on Sturt Street, and seem to have broken the Hampshire Hotel curse with Hotel Longtime, which opened in early 2018 (though not without controversy). The pub formerly saw seven businesses pass through the space in the course of a decade.
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Hotel Longtime
Etica
We first met Melissa Pisanelli and her husband Federico when we visited Etica for our City Pasta Guide in 2015. We then covered the graphic design of their follow-up Etica: Pizza al Taglio (sadly now defunct), and stopped by the original restaurant during our gander down Gilles.
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Etica
Mamachau
We first met sisters Bich and Linh Nguyen when illustrator Elaine Cheng visited their Pirie Street shop, Mamachau, in 2015, and we went back in 2017 for our guide to Pirie Street.
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Mamachau
Wheatsheaf Hotel
Adelaide’s original brewpub. Prior to Jade Flavell and her collaborators, Liz O’Dea and Emily Trott, taking over the pub, it was an “affectionately regarded shambles,” she told us back in 2016. The Wheaty is now an important cornerstone brewhouse in Adelaide’s beer scene (and their branding is great).
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Wheatsheaf Hotel
Fleur and Brew
Our guide to Gilbert Street saw us run into Fleur & Brew founders (and sisters-in-law) Vanessa Bartholomaeus (above) and Svetlana Grebenshikoff. You know where to go if you’re in the market for coffee and flowers.
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Fleur and Brew
Rustic Gourmet
While spending some time on King William Street, Kent Town, we were introduced to co-owner of Rustic Gourmet, Emma Bradshaw. Kent Town is the second Rustic Gourmet location, after the business outgrew its Tusmore location.
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Rustic Gourmet
Blend Etiquette
Geordan Elliss and her business partner, Lindon Lark, launched tonic company Blend Etiquette in 2017 and last year made a gin to help save pangolins from extinction. Good going, Geordan and Lindon.
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Gin Pangolin
Blend Etiquette
Bento Queen
Entrepreneurship is launching a delivery-only restaurant on WeChat in 2016, before the food delivery market was gentrified by Uber and its ilk. And that’s exactly what Qiu Yu did.
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Bento Queen
Kimchi Club
Minka Park founded her kimchi startup while developing a kid-friendly, non-spicy version of the fermented delicacy.
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Kimchi Club
Warndu
Rebecca Sullivan is a cook, author, and founder of Warndu, along with her partner, Damien Coulthard. The company has released a range of Australian condiments, and recently launched a cookbook, Warndu Mai.
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Warndu
Southland Merchants
Adelaide has a strong coffee culture and the city is filled with cafés, some of whom roast their own beans. We figured it would be easy to track down a green coffee bean importer, but it turned out to be very, very difficult. Then we met founders of Southland Merchants, Nadia Moreira and Andre Selga – a Brazilian couple importing beans into the state and working closely with the farmers who supply them.
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Southland Merchants
Shobosho
We covered the opening of Shōbōsho extensively in our ‘How to build a restaurant’ series. During the series, we spoke with Shōbōsho co-owner Harriot Berry, who came into the restaurant’s ownership team after a stint at its sister-restaurant, Oggi, as restaurant manager.
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Shōbōsho
The Simple Market
Mel Muller and her husband, Fabian, opened their wholefoods store and community gathering point, The Simple Market, in Mile End back in 2017.
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The Simple Market
Say Cheese + The Smelly Cheese Shop + Dough
It is every journalist’s dream to be toured through a cheese warehouse by a French person who knows their fromage. Owner of Say Cheese, The Smelly Cheese Shop and Dough, Valerie Henbest, was our guide on this fateful day.
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Say Cheese
The Smelly Cheese Shop
Dough
55ml
Early in 2016, we heard Seira Hotta and Seamus Noone were opening a bar in an old SAFCOL warehouse just off Gouger Street, and by May we welcomed 55ml into the city.
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55ml
My Kingdom for a Horse
Emily Raven founded micro roastery and café My Kingdom For a Horse in 2015, and launched a very useful coffee subscription service one year later.
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My Kingdom For a Horse
Gondola Gondola
Annie Liang and Tuoi Tran fought hard for their space on the corner of Peel Street, opening Gondola Gondola in 2015.
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Gondola Gondola
Jive
We spoke with owner Tam Boakes back in 2015 ahead of Jive’s brief foray into day trade, and Tam took home a Lifetime Achievement Award at the South Australian Music Awards.
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Jive
East Borough Eatery
Makeeley Abraham and her husband, Paul, first collaborated on Corner Store in Dulwich, then Long Lost Friend on Magill Road and Local Crowd in Colonel Light Gardens. They then sold out of the lot, founded The Caring Kitchen (now closed), and eventually dipped their toes back into the café game with East Borough Eatery. Makeeley recently spoke with InDaily about her latest venture, Ruby Rose Cucina in Norwood.
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East Borough Eatery
Lambrook Wines
Lambrook was founded by Brooke Lampit and her husband, Adam, who we first met in 2016. They then spoke with us about the art of sparkling wine and toured us through the vineyard they take their fruit from, which is presided over by Di Davidson. We also spoke with Parallax Design about their very nice looking wine labels.
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Lambrook Wines
Charlotte Dalton Wines
Charlotte Dalton, the wine label founded by winemaker Charlotte Hardy, was featured in our ‘Wines you should know about‘ series. Charlotte took the top spot in the Hot 100 Wines competition last year, so it would be fair to say she is now quite well known.
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Charlotte Dalton Wines
Crack Kitchen
Crack Kitchen co-owner, Marie Robertson, accepted our long-running challenge to the chefs of Adelaide to produce something delicious on a public BBQ, and she made us buttermilk griddle pancakes with caramelised pear. Good call, Marie.
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Crack Kitchen
La Lorientiase Crêperie
Marie-Elise Sellin came to Adelaide from Lorient, a small town in Brittany, France, and opened La Loreintaise Crêperie in Croydon with her partner, Luke Jackson.
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La Lorientiase Crêperie
Scullery Made
In 2016, we searched for local tea companies and came across Scullery Made, run by Cherie Hausler.
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Scullery Made Tea
Hygge Organic
While on our tea journey, we also met Melody Marrone, who founded Hygge Organic.
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Hygge Organic
Let Them Eat
In the earliest days of CityMag, we met Tanya Agius, owner of Let Them Eat. The time was 2014 and the vegan food market in Adelaide was severely underserved. Illustrator Elaine Cheng then went back for another look a year later. Let Them Eat is now available at Burnside Village, the Central Market, Westfield Marion, the Gawler Green Shopping Centre, and you can also find them popping up at various markets about town.
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Let Them Eat
Mercato
Imma Caproaso is the Mercato Matriarch and she fed us pasta during our ‘Nonna in the city’ series.
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Mercato
Nanna Hot Bake
Ying Mok – known to us now as Popo Ying – has been serving generations of Adelaideans at Nanna Hot Bake. We are forever grateful.
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Nanna Hot Bake
Nettle & Knead
Puveyors of all the real good doughy stuff you love, and coffee to match, Nettle and Knead was founded by Katharine Monserrat and her partner, James Katsarelias.
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Nettle & Knead
The Salopian Inn
Another chef up for the public BBQ challenge, Karena Armstrong, co-owner of The Salopian Inn, made pork san choy bou in Mullawirrapurka Rymill Park.
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The Salopian Inn
Two-Bit Villains
We were pretty happy to see a bit more Two-Bit Villains in Adelaide Arcade, founded by Sass Ryan and Liam Hughes, when they expanded to a new frontage in 2015.
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Two-Bit Villains
De Groot Coffee Co.
Founded by Bernadette Stack and Trevor De Groot, we visited De Groot Coffee Co.’s Port Elliot frontage when it opened back in 2014, and you can now find their coffee cart parked out the front of Summertown Studio seven days a week.
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De Groot Coffee Co.
The Lost Loaf
Magill Estate produces some enterprising pastry chefs. Emma Shearer left the iconic kitchen to start her own bakery, The Lost Loaf, at Plant 4 in Bowden.
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The Lost Loaf
Parwana Afghan Kitchen + Kutchi Deli Parwana
It’s impossible not to love what the Ayubi family, including Fatema, Raihanah, Durkhanai pictured above, have brought to this city. We were very excited to report in 2014 that Parwana was moving into the CBD.
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Parwana Afghan Kitchen
Kutchi Deli Parwana
Two Sisters Food & Wine
Co-owners of Two Sisters, Nicole Sheehan and Kelly-Ann Clarken wanted to see a small bar on Goodwood Road, so they made one.
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Two Sisters Food & Wine
Parisi’s Restaurant
When we met Simone Ellery in 2016, she told us of her long hospitality lineage that includes La Trattoria (!!), which was opened by her father, and the original Marcellina on Hindley Street (!!!!), which was opened by her grandfather. Parisi’s is an institution in itself and you should definitely stop by for their family dinner series, held on the last Sunday of every month.
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Parisi’s Restaurant
Mahalia Coffee
The woman on the front of the Mahalia Beans coffee bags? Yeah, her name is Mahalia Layzell and she owns the business.
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Mahalia Coffee
If we’ve missed your favourite female-owned hospitality business, let us know by email. We also may have missed your business in our archives, if this is the case please let us know.