By S Haslam
When our children unexpectedly disappeared last weekend, we seized the chance for an all-too-rare adults-only impromptu ‘date’ in Brunswick Heads. We arrived at dinner time unannounced, and without a reservation, but Holly Ottignon and the friendly crew at Cadeau were able to find us a table outside – it’s nice when that just happens smoothly, isn’t it?
I’d heard about the ‘pet-nat’ sparkling (Petillant Naturel is an ancient method where the wine is bottled before fermentation is complete, creating a natural wine with a range of possible characteristics), and ordered one by UK winemaker Tim Wildman (called the ‘Heavy Petting’!) by accident, and it came as a pleasant surprise! Wildman travels from the UK to South Australia to make the wine each year, and it’s made from Nero d’Avola fruit with a little Zibbibo, and it’s light and red. It was perfect for a warm evening, especially with our light chickpea panisse (they look like long potato chips, but they are made from chickpeas and tasted wonderful with an aioli dipping sauce).
The menu changes, or variations on the menu appear regularly at Cadeau, but everything we tried on the current menu was delicious: the crispy potato cake was particularly good. We also loved the swordfish with fresh lime and Asian flavours, and the baked aubergine dish. Chef Giorgio Ravelli (Holly’s partner) has a lot of winners on his European-influenced food menu, and it didn’t seem to be a problem to find gluten-free options for my partner.
The ‘grower-focussed’ wine list made it really easy too, with plenty of wines by the glass for those who like to try something different: after my sparkling I followed up with an excellent Fiano, which, at $16.50 was at the top end of the by-the-glass list, but at the cheapest end of the by-the-glass reds, the Earth Shiraz was also terrific.
This was a laid-back place with good service, food and wine; perfect for our impromptu night out.
More info: Cadeau Bar & Restaurant
Open Wed–Sun 5pm–10pm
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