I came to South Australia’s inaugural Michelin selection with a healthy respect for the Red Guide—and a few reservations of my own. Two very different restaurants show what the guide’s arrival means for dining in Australia.

I’ve spent a fair bit of time eating at Michelin-starred restaurants. More than 150, by my rough count. Living in New York introduced me to the world behind those little stars, both through my work and by attending Michelin Guide ceremonies.

There’s plenty of theatre around the stars, and no shortage of debate about whether restaurants deserve them. But whatever you think of Michelin, there’s no denying that travellers use the guide to decide where to eat and that a star can put extraordinary cooking on the map.

I never thought Michelin would make it to Australia. Now that it has, our restaurants stand to gain an international audience, chefs have another benchmark to work towards, and, naturally, the rest of us have a few more things to argue about.

The stars went to tasting menus

After the inaugural ceremony in Adelaide, I headed out to try two of South Australia’s newly starred restaurants. Of the 11 restaurants, all but one serve tasting menus, which seems a narrow way to represent Australia’s dining culture built on shared plates, long lunches and generations of migration. 

That’s why I always recommend booking a Bib Gourmand alongside a starred restaurant wherever you are. These are the places you’re more likely to return to on an ordinary Tuesday, and they can tell you just as much about a state’s food culture as a multi-course dinner.

For my first booking, though, Arkhè was the obvious choice. It’s the only starred restaurant in South Australia where you can order à la carte.

Arkhé: The outlier on the list

The dining room of Arkhé is buzzing the day after the restaurant is awarded its first Michelin star. But it’s not the diners making the noise. It’s the chefs and front-of-house who are practically humming. 

Chef and co-owner Jake Kellie walks in after a long morning of media briefings, grinning from ear to ear. I ask how he’s feeling, which seems a fairly obvious question the day after winning a Michelin star. “I’ve worked in Michelin restaurants before, but to have one of your own is different," he says.

Arkhé is in Norwood, a leafy eastern suburb of Adelaide lined with boutique shops, cafes and bars. Inside, a long bar leads into the main dining room, where some tables are pushed into dimly lit corners and others in a bright outdoor setting. The best seats, though, might be the swivel stools around the U-shaped chef’s counter, with a front-row view of the kitchen.

Contrary to what I said earlier, there is a five-course chef’s select menu ($165 per person). But it’s not the only way to eat here. The à la carte menu is sizeable, with fire-licked dishes ranging from charred cabbage with red miso beurre blanc to grilled Murray cod.

Lamb rib tacos are on the menu when I visit, and I can’t resist. A chef places a sizzling slab of lamb on a purple tortilla, adds yoghurt crema and charred tomatillo, then showers it with cheese. I’m tempted to catch the shavings. That’s the danger of sitting at the counter, so close to the action. The rib has a smoky, charcoal bite, while the crema cuts through the richness.

White asparagus is in season for just eight weeks a year, so I order it with cacio e pepe sauce. It’s every bit as creamy and delicious as it sounds. Would the eight-year-old version of me have eaten more vegetables if they’d come covered in this sauce?

The Peking duck wontons get a mention on the Michelin Guide website, so naturally, I try them. Four oversized wontons sit in a rich smoked duck broth. The chef tells me they’re a menu staple, one of those original dishes they’ve never quite managed to take off.

I hadn’t planned on dessert, but watching dishes fly out of the kitchen gives me order envy. I polish off all four burnt butter madeleines, soaking each one in salted caramel sauce.

I leave full and satisfied, with a total bill of $79.

Botanic: where the set menu earns its place

When I walk up to Botanic, the rotunda set among the jungle-like surrounds of Adelaide Botanic Garden, a red Michelin plaque is already hanging beneath the restaurant’s sign. Much to my surprise, executive chef Jamie Musgrave is in the kitchen, business as usual.

Botanic serves a degustation menu for dinner and a more relaxed three-course lunch. I’ve come for dinner, which starts with a gin and sake cocktail (two of my favourite spirits), after I tell Nicole Sharrad, one of the servers, to “surprise me".

Dinner opens with a procession of snacks: crab, a bull kelp tart with crocodile tongue, wasabi leaf and green ants.

Later, I slather butter on bread stuffed with braised kangaroo tail, which tastes remarkably like a Vegemite and cheese scroll. A nostalgic bite among all the experimentation. My favourite is the marron, served with vanilla and cherry tomatoes filled with strawberry compote that oozes out when you cut into them. There are plenty more dishes I could list, though the seasonal menu will likely have moved on by the time you visit.

Musgrave clearly enjoys playing with native Australian ingredients, and there’s plenty of technique at work. The service is sharp without being stiff, and they explain each course as it is placed down.

This is a more classic Michelin experience than Arkhé. At Botanic, there’s an ingredient, technique, or idea to get your head around, which is the fun of it. You might never order crocodile tongue or drink vodka poured over a cup of fresh garden herbs yourself, but here you get to see what a chef can do with them. Save it for a night when you want something fancy, and you’re happy to let dinner run its course.