Boutique bottle shop Bowden Cellars has finally launched, giving both Adelaide Wine Markets and food truck favourites CARŌclub their first bricks-and-mortar tenancies.

When CityMag catches CARŌclub co-founder Tim Atwill on the phone, it is Wednesday afternoon and mere hours before the shop’s first official night open to the public at their new home in Bowden.

“We’re pretty pumped for tonight,” Tim says.

CARŌclub is sharing the Bowden Cellars tenancy in Plant 3, having been brought in by head leaseholders Dale Wostikow and Josh Voigt of Adelaide Wine Markets, who are running the bottle shop side of the business.

The CARŌclub team had been cooking in the space over the weekend for friends and family (and the occasional passer-by local) to get a feel for the space.

One very particular element of this new space stood out to Tim.

“It’s completely different to being in a truck, obviously a lot more space to work with, which is great,” he laughs.

“We were pretty blown away with how it’s come together. It just feels super chill. It’s super nice vibes.

“The light in there’s amazing, it’s a super beautiful building. It’s blown us away, to be honest.”

L—R: CARŌclub founders Kain Slotegraaf, Tim Atwill and Kyle McLean

With a fitout courtesy of Echelon Studio, the space is divided down the middle, with the retail bottle shop on one side and the hospitality offering on the other. There’s also additional seating upstairs on the mezzanine level.

The bottle shop is South Australian- and small-producer-focussed, and, in addition to the wine offering at CARŌclub’s bar, all the bottles are available to be consumed on-site, with corkage.

Alternatively, Tim and the team are just as happy to see local Bowdenites packing up their burgers and bottles for takeaway and heading back home for a night in.

The menu consists of many of the CARŌclub favourites that have won them fans at festivals over the years, as well as a few new additions. The menu will continue to develop as the team settles into its new site.

“We’ve got a few vego options, and there’s a fried option as well, so fried chicken. We’ve also introduced a fried chicken alternate, which is the shimeji mushroom,” Tim explains.

“Something sweet as well, a couple of new sides, and we’re definitely looking to expand that.

“Once we knuckle down on this, we’ll start introducing a few new things, and maybe a couple of different themed nights, and give our new chef a bit of a play around as well.”

CARŌclub is only now in the early stages of operating at Plant 3, but already Tim is noticing the hub effect of the new development.

“There’s definitely a lot of crossover with the [Bowden Brewing], which is nice,” he says.

“The locals who go into IGA are popping their head in and having a look around. They’re quite excited to see a bottle shop offering there as well, as well as grabbing some burgers and takeaway food.

“Especially with Parwana going in there now as well, it’s going to be a real destination place where you can hang out for a whole night, really, and get a bit of everything.”

Given CARŌclub’s location within the Bowden Cellars space, CityMag asks Tim for a pairing suggestion for our impending trip to the site, but he instead recommends using another great feature of the business – the knowledgeable team on site.

“That’s why I’ve got Dale and Josh in the cellars there. They’ve got the know-how when it comes to the wine,” he says.

“You can absolutely just duck next door and grab a bottle, chat to those guys and sit down and drink that bottle as well.

“It’s all local-based booze. That goes across the beer, gin and wine. All tastes catered to.”

Bowden Cellars is open 10am ‘til 9pm seven days, and the CARŌclub kitchen operates 4pm ‘til late Wednesday to Thursday and 10am ‘til late Friday to Sunday.

A breakfast menu will launch in the coming months, which will be available on weekends only.

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