Muted as a cellar door/bottle shop and bar, you need to look hard to find food on the Otherness website. In fact, on their home page not a single picture of food or of women. This hardly does justice or places sufficient importance on their dining experience. Listing Otherness as a bar is not the right description. I think of a bar as a high bench with some stool seating in front and opportunity to pester the bar person. Yes there is a bottle shop element with an erudite moderately sized list that encompasses Australian and Barossan genius with a terrific smattering of wisely selected internationals including Champagnes. Yes, there is the opportunity for wine education and regular tastings…but it is the dining experience that is par excellence here.

It should not surprise anyone to find that Grant Dickson owns Otherness. A world class musician, he worked for Rockford Wines for years, stepped briefly into the restaurant world at another location to now be sole owner at Otherness. It takes guts, passion and integrity to take on what is, a large, somewhat awkward space in the main street in Angaston that was initially intended as a bakery. The baker still uses the facility a couple of nights a week and does make the excellent light sour dough bread served at Otherness. Hardly massed passing trade. The lack of Chinese tourists has hit all the South Australian wine regions hard. It is large and light space and tables are well spaced.

Finding such intelligent restrained food perfectly match to wine is rare in South Australia. Chef Sam Smith comes with excellent provenance having worked with David Swain at Fino for some years. Like Swain Smith’s focus is finding the best in-season produce and treating it with respect. Peculiarly, Smith looks a little like Swain. I love this sort of food.

The Barossa is not blessed with amazing vegetable gardens, apart of course, from the Famous Rockford Krondorf Garden, and Smith sources much of his produce from a Pasinetti Produce in nearby Virginia. Virginia is truly Adelaide and the Barossa’s food bowl, and we are lucky to have it in such close proximity.