It can be hard to follow in the footsteps of greats. The road to making a name on your own merit can be a struggle, but A Prayer for the Wild at Heart seems to be taking it in its stride.
A Prayer for the Wild at Heart is the sibling restaurant to the multi-award-winning My Kingdom for a Horse, located overlooking beautiful Hurtle Square. This has created opportunity for team members to expand their skills outwards from Kingdom.
The new restaurant embodies the same lineage as its predecessor, with its name deriving from a Tennessee Williams play “Stairs to the Roof”.
A prayer for the wild at hear
Kept in cages
I know how you long
To run wild and free….
Owner of both projects Emily Raven has always had an affinity for literature and its influence on her work with My Kingdom for a Horse’s name coming from her favourite Shakespeare play, Richard III.
Another huge influence that inspires Emily, is her appreciation and admiration for the hospitality industry and the people who devote their lives to it.
“The Wild at Heart are the misfits who don’t quite fit within the confines of convention. Something many hospitality people can identify with,” Emily said.
With the new restaurant seemingly falling into place, the build was not without its challenges.
“As the space was not originally intended as a hospitality venue, there were a few challenges to overcome from a design perspective to achieve comfort and functionality to create a beautiful brasserie space overlooking the park on Hurtle Square,” Emily explained.
Emily reunited with the original Kingdom design team – Adrian Stevens, Sam Agostino, Kellie Campbell and Tony Mead, the artist who did the original artwork on the walls at Kingdom, with ex-Crafers and Cremorne Hotel exec chef, Stephane Brizard, heading up the kitchen team.
“Stephane’s French heritage and wide-ranging experience were a good match to my early career in classical cookery. Our menu is interspersed with brasserie classics and the best of what is seasonal and fresh,” Emily continued.
A Prayer will trade with a small simple menu for breakfast with Kingdom coffee (of course) moving to its brasserie menu for lunch and dinner. Half of the venue’s seating is outside under the veranda looking out over the park to encourage afternoons wiling away time over snacks and a glass of wine.
Venue manager, Mathilde Tytgat who, along with Stephane, also hails from France came over to Adelaide from Sydney for the Sofitel opening. Mathilde has comprehensive wine background and has put together a fantastic wine and cocktail list for us.
The brasserie’s wine list features a range of constantly changing local and international choices including a small reserve collection overseen by Mathilde Tytgat.
For those of you who are regulars of My Kingdom, you may be treated with some familiar faces.
“There’ll be a little bit of cross-pollination across the businesses with long-time coffee roaster, barista trainer and manager, Gennie Chee moving into a General Manager role along as well as a few other familiar faces making appearances,” Emily said.
Find A Prayer for the Wild at Heart at 44 Hurtle Square, Adelaide SA 5000.
https://www.aprayerforthewildatheart.com.au/
To book a table at A Prayer for the Wild at Heart click HERE.
Follow along with their journey on Facebook HERE.
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