Nestled in the panoramic Adelaide Hills of South Australia, Bird in Hand winery has announced its remodelled and renamed on-premises dining room, LVN Restaurant, will open in January 2024 under the guidance of executive chef Jacob Davey.
The spirited daughter of Bird in Hand founders, Andrew and Susie Nugent, inspired the name of the newly reimagined restaurant at the Woodside estate. LVN – the initials of Lalla Victoria Nugent – is also the name given to the winery’s prestigious pinnacle cuvée, due for release in 2027.
Guided by the heartbeat of Woodside and the Peramangk Country upon which the property resides, LVN Restaurant embodies a synergy of place, artisanal gastronomy and culture.
Most recently the head chef of three-hatted Restaurant Botanic in Adelaide, Davey has joined the Bird in Hand team to lead the direction of LVN. His experience in Europe and as an Adelaide local has shaped his vision for the new restaurant. “I’m inspired by the farmers, the producers, the fishers and the seasons and micro-seasons of Adelaide Hills and our kitchen garden,” Davey says. “My aim [at LVN] is to weave all of this together to create a world-class experience.”
Chef Davey has been tasked to develop a menu that perfectly captures the essence and flavours of the land the winery relies on to grow its grapes; country that has been nurtured and respected for tens of thousands of years by the Peramangk, Paredareme and Ngarringdjeri peoples.
The restaurant will offer guests a farm-to-table dining experience with a captivating menu of seven to ten dishes ranging from one-bite signatures to larger composed dishes featuring seasonal native ingredients – reared, grown, caught or created with complete consideration for welfare and sustainability.
Combining produce from the onsite kitchen garden at Woodside, the Finniss River on the lower lakes of South Australia, as well as rare seasonal goods from Seymour in Tasmania, many of the native ingredients showcased at LVN have been foraged by Indigenous elders for generations.
Produce set to appear on the menu includes mutton bird and wallaby native to northern Tasmania, pipis and coastal fruits from the south of Adelaide, and sheoak and kangaroo from Adelaide Hills. The restaurant will also be home to Bird in Hand’s rare museum wines, carefully curated by senior winemakers and made available exclusively to restaurant guests.
Given equal thought as the cuisine, art is a core focus of the new dining experience. The restaurant’s naturally lit and spacious interior serves as a backdrop to a vast collection of original works by cutting-edge Australian and international artists. “We believe wine is a connector to art, design and culture, bringing together people to share moments of happiness and joy,” says Andrew Nugent, co-founder Bird in Hand. “This translates beautifully in the new restaurant space.”
LVN Restaurant joins an impressive portfolio of special experiences offered to guests at Woodside, including the newly refurbished cellar door, private tasting room and landscaped gardens featuring a worldly sculpture collection curated by the Nugent family.
Located at 150 Pfeiffer Road, Woodside, South Australia, reservations for LVN Restaurant open on 16 December 2023, with sittings commencing 14 January 2024.
The restaurant will be open from 12pm to 4.30pm, every Saturday and Sunday.
