Restaurant Review:
Fino Vino

On a Monday night, Fino’s new city outpost is quiet early and we have our choice of seats. The long central table draws my eyes towards the open kitchen, but ultimately it’s impossible to go past a booth for two with comfortable burnt orange seats and a gorgeous marbled granite table.

The exposed brick walls and overhead ducts are more industrial, and this tension between rustic and refined is explored on the menu, which encourages sharing and minimises waste in the kitchen.

This aspect is evident in the first dish, parcels of vegetable cuttings and bulgar wheat wrapped in bright green silverbeet. The slight bitterness of the lightly blanched leaves is offset by rich, peppery pine nut cream that’s worthy of the name.

Each dolma is topped with a deliciously salty curl of crispy potato skin. Soon they’re joined by a tender baby octopus splayed out in a pool of lightly spiced liquid nduja that’s forceful in flavour without being overpowering.

“Mulloway, green tomato” gives only a hint of what follows. Slices of mulloway are cured and wrapped in kelp, while the green tomatoes are grilled before being juiced and turned into a broth with lemon verbena. The thick, pale pink strips of mulloway flesh are firm without being chewy and the broth adds a light gingery zing to a dish that’s understated but far from bland.

Rather than overwhelming the palate, the kitchen respects the ingredients and asks diners to do the same. Following that lead, I savour each bite and let the subtle flavours reveal themselves alongside a sweet, aromatic blend of gewürztraminer, riesling and pinot gris from the similarly restrained wine list.

Not every dish hits the balance quite so perfectly. Rounds of sprouted fenugreek flatbread look sensational when they arrive under a mound of fresh green peas topped with a golden zucchini flower. The al dente peas release a burst of sweetness with each bite, and are mixed with finely sliced zucchini ends in another example of the no waste ethos.

But the flatbread underneath is heavy in comparison, and smears of rich oyster cream overpower the freshness of the vegetables. A serving of four proves too much for our group of two.

As is to be expected when Sharon Romeo is in charge, the service is attentive without being overbearing and each dish is introduced with the respect it deserves. Questions about ingredients and processes are answered immediately by our wonderfully knowledgeable server who is as intimate with each dish’s preparation as anyone in the kitchen.

Plates are divided into three sizes, and red meat is absent from all but the largest. But when the main does arrive, I only have eyes for the side. Slabs of rich heirloom tomatoes the colour of ripe chillies are topped with delicate lilac stars of society garlic flowers and dressed with a surprisingly delicate bone marrow vinaigrette.

The tomatoes’ natural acidity is perfectly balanced with the fattiness of marrow that has been rendered and emulsified. The result is an exquisite dish that elevates each of the ingredients and serves as an ode to Fino’s producers.

So perfect is it that by the time I turn my eyes to the protein, it has begun to lose shape. A central pyramid of golden potato surrounded by bitter chicory stalks, crisped kale and forests of rich smoked shimeji and oyster mushrooms is melting into the surrounding pool of sauce. It’s the first hot dish of the night and the heartiest, but can’t help being upstaged by its flawless support act.

To finish with, I opt for a single scoop of ice cream on a bed of crunchy honeycomb. The rich kefir ice cream is topped with stripes of chewy honey glazed kombu, and the inclusion of toasted black barley gives it an earthiness reminiscent of matcha. Like a number of dishes throughout the night, a great deal of thought and preparation has gone into it, but the final product emerges in an elegantly simple form.

This, ultimately, is the triumph of Fino Vino.

Fino Vino
82 Flinders Street, Adelaide

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