Restaurants & Food

Clare Valley’s restaurants and food outlets make a point of offering ingredients and products that are either locally-grown or locally-made. And for good reason.

The landscapes are not only idyllic; they’re also lush and fertile. The local growers understand that clean and green means flavour: ‘organic’ and ‘grain-fed’ are not exercises in branding, they’re sources of pride and guarantees of good old-fashioned taste.

Many of Clare Valley’s gourmet food producers have returned to time-honoured means of food processing. At their various farm-shops, cellar doors and outlets you can see them using antique presses that render olive oil extra-virgin, real grindstones that retain the goodness of wheatgerm, and of course that most trustworthy of machines in the production of gourmet sausages, chutneys, relishes and mustards –  the hand.

Recommended Clare Valley Restaurants

Whether you're looking for breakfast, lunch or dinner - you really are spoilt for choice. You could try a pub like the historic Wheatsheaf with its great menu and funky arthouse décor, or the Magpie and Stump in Mintaro that still uses its 1854 oven. You could try a cellar door restaurant like Mt Horrocks which is housed in an old railway station, or the Skillogalee farmhouse with its views to dine for. You could even take a cooking course at the renowned Thornhill Park under the tutelage of chef David Hay.

 

Clare Gourmet Weekend

Alternatively you could experience everything the region has to offer during the astonishing gastronomic blow-out that is the Clare Gourmet Weekend. This was Australia’s very first regional food and wine festival, and it’s still the finest. During this May weekend, you’ll join 15,000 merry-makers as they savour the flavours from Clare Valley’s many food producers, restaurateurs and wine-makers.