Big things are happening at the Banksia Tree Café and Restaurant in Port Adelaide! Due to popular demand, they’re now serving up their seasonal and indigenous delights from morning to night with extended opening hours and a dynamic, ever-shifting “hyper-seasonal” menu, and what better season to launch into the new than spring!
To celebrate the dawn of a new era in The Banksia Tree’s award-winning years of ethically sourced and prepared nourishment and to thank their loyal customers who have made this possible, they’re throwing a three-day long “Ring-a-Ding it’s SPRING” party.
From October 10th to the 12th, you can head into The Banksia Tree to indulge in the variety of delights they’re spreading throughout the celebration, as follows:
Thursday 10th October: Free dinner for kids!
Friday 11th October: Free wine tastings with Unico Zelo
Saturday 12th October: Live music from local Port Adelaide local Lizzie Coke
Banksia Tree’s owner and manager, Fabian Folghera, was brimming with excitement when he told Glam Adelaide that “… this is the biggest revamp that we’ve had in four or five years. From October 10th, we’ll be keeping our doors open after 3pm, well into the evening hours, closing at 9pm on every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.”
To encourage families to come in and explore the Banksia’s clever creations, all kids dining with their adult humans will eat for free during their inaugural dinner service.
With their dinner menu starting at 4:30pm, families can head in for some hearty and healthy nourishment before heading home to settle their kids down for a deep full-bellied sleep.
The addition of a dinner service not only presents new possibilities for their customers but also a new outlet for experimentation within their kitchen; as Fabian explained, “The opportunities this presents for us to expand our menu are so exciting that Jamie (our head chef) and I have agreed to do away with our quarterly seasonal menu, replacing it with a hyper-seasonal menu. Instead of changing it from winter to spring, summer and autumn, we’ll be changing it whenever we feel like it!”
While humanity has placed rigid dates on our seasons, Mother Nature follows her own clock, presenting new flavours and colours daily to replace those that have had their time under the sun and are ready to return to the soil.
Such is the Banksia Tree team’s connection with nature, this ever-rotating menu deepens their connection with the produce surrounding them while also keeping things interesting for the health-loving, flavour-driven foodies who flock to their café.
Fabian shared his thoughts on this shift further, “… I think the beauty about being able to do everything in-house is that if we come across a nice crop of tomatoes before it goes south in tomato land, we can utilise them. Or, if we find that our local seafood is suddenly taking on a sumptuous flavour that will lend itself to be grilled over the fire beautifully, then we can get that on straight away. We’ll be utilising our wood-fired grill more and harnessing fire and smoke as an ingredient rather than just the cooking method.”
To broaden the range of flavours their guests can enjoy, the dinner menu will be designed for sharing, as explained by Fabian, “To encourage a culture of sharing, our bistro-style dinner menu includes new dishes in small and large servings, alongside some of Banksia Tree’s favourites from our daytime menu. We’ll be introducing a steak as well as a barramundi served with seasonal greens and a native chimichurri.
Other new dishes include a fire-grilled leek with pomegranate molasses and macadamia milk, as well as coal-grilled beetroots with a macadamia crumb and Salt Bush smoked labneh.”
They’ll also be re-launching their crab pasta, which was a social sensation when they taught their digital community how to make it via a video demo during the COVID lockdown.
This time, they’ll be using wild Blue Swimmer Crab from South Australia’s Two Gulf’s Crab, spicing it up with their house-made fermented chilli, along with garlic and tomato
With dinner comes wine, and to ensure their new dinner service is partnered with a list as abundant in flavours as their menu, The Banksia Tree’s wine list is also being expanded.
The saying “birds of a feather, flock together” is most pertinent when it comes to their partnership with fellow champions of sustainable produce, local winery Unico Zelo, who will be presenting a tasting of its portfolio of wines to The Banksia Tree’s guests during the Ring-a-Ding it’s Spring celebrations.
Based in Forest Range, Unico Zelo specialises in natural wines with grapes sourced from its organic vineyards. It is guided by an ethos of allowing nature to dictate the style and flavour of its wines, not the consumer market. This approach marries perfectly with The Banksia Tree’s embrace of a flexible menu that gratefully accepts what nature supplies.
Every party needs some music, and Port Adelaide’s popular pianist and covers singer Lizzie Coke will keep the good vibes flowing on Saturday the 12th, playing within The Banksia Tree’s delightful, cosy dining haven alongside the sounds of happy customers.
With so much on offer and such exciting tastes to discover, you’d best jump onto their website now and book a table for you and your favourite fellow foodies to be a part of this new chapter in The Banksia Tree’s flavour-laden history.
All you need to know about The Banksia Tree
What: The Banksia Tree Café and Restaurant
Where: 147 St. Vincent St. Port Adelaide
Website: The Banksia Tree
Socials: Facebook | Instagram
Open:
Sunday to Wednesday: 8am to 3pm
* Brunch menu: 8am – 3pm
Thursday to Saturday: 8am to 9pm
* Brunch menu: 8am – 2pm
* Evening menu: 4:30pm – 9pm
** Coffees and beverages are still available for enjoyment between kitchen opening hours **
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