DECADE IN PRINT
ADELAIDE MATTERS HAS SPENT 10 YEARS TRACKING THE LATEST IN FOOD, FASHION, ART AND DESIGN
Fads come and go but Adelaide Matters has been part of the city landscape for 10 years.
Our first issue, February 2000, was dedicated to the Adelaide Festival and a glance at the first year of covers reveals a group still very active in the arts; among them dance choreographer Leigh Warren, film producer Kerry Heysen and composer Graeme Koehne.
Adelaide Matters was going to “distill the essence of our city, its inhabitants, their lifestyles and moods”, said then-editor Megan Lloyd.
A glance through the first year’s issues shows Alison Dunn, then Adelaide Festival marketing manager, and now CEO at the Helpmann Academy, and in-demand furniture designer Khai Liew.
Some of the first pictures of the new-look David Jones store, part of the Adelaide Central Plaza complex were featured, as were some of its fashions, as well as clothing from Burnside Village, Max Mara and North Adelaide boutique P.Smith (now closed).
Adelaide Matters featured a “must haves” list of fashion which included a denim jacket, pussy bowtie blouse, pleated skirt and shirtdress.
It also included a trench coat and halter-neck top – both of which are still extremely fashionable.
In 2010 the pleated skirt and shirtdress are no longer at the top of the fashionista’s list, replaced by the maxi dress and shorts.
Melbourne St was once a fashionable address but in 2010 it has been usurped by Rundle St, with recent openings by Lisa Ho, Zimmermann and Saba, backed by locals such as Sooki and Miss Gladys Sym Choon.
Our fashion models were once colleagues and relatives but are now sourced from agencies.
Among our most famous faces have been Alex Venema, the face of this year’s Adelaide Fashion Festival, and Jennifer Hawkins.
Our first year also included themed magazines such as the children’s edition and the rose edition. Browsing through the children’s edition, it’s amazing the difference 10 years makes.
Jay, a fresh-faced boy at his dad’s cappuccino machine is now driving and building up his bank balance to study at uni, while a blonde-haired toddler (Henry) is readying himself for Year 7.
Back in 2000, cooking schools were just starting to gain momentum with classes run by pioneers such as caterer Rosa Matto and restaurateur Ragini Dey. While Rosa and Ragini are still going strong, the past decade has seen an explosion of cooking schools and the list now includes Outdoors On Parade, Bottega Rotolo, Sticky Rice, The Cook’s Pantry and Homewares Direct.
The Rose wine variety revival was in full swing in 2000 with our tasting panel giving Charles Melton Rose of Virginia and Eldridge Estate Gamay top points in a Rose tasting. In the same year, Penfolds released its first vintage of Penfolds RWT Shiraz 1997 which was being dubbed “Baby Grange” at $80 per bottle. The most recent release is priced at $170.
We wrote about young chef Ben Sommariva, then 28, who was chef at the late George Capoccia’s Eccolo restaurant in Grote St (it later became Auge under Terry Soukoulis). Ben is now head chef at The Kitchen Door at Penny’s Hill in McLaren Vale.
Blumenstein’s cafe, named after co-ownerVictoria Blumenstein from Seattle, opened in Grenfell St with artisan sourdough bread by John Downes, organic food by chef Geoff Platt and fantastic coffee. Unfortunately it later closed down and Victoria headed for the Barossa, Geoff cook in Grafton, NSW and John Downes continues to make sourdough.
A story on the hottest restaurant designs featured David Bui’s Halong Vietnamese restaurant and Now Furniture’s refit of Soho – both on Melbourne St (both now defunct). We also featured Greg Hamilton’s stylish design for The Melting Pot at Hyde Park and designer Michael Youds’ refit of the Newmarket Hotel.
Peggy Veloudos was onto something when she opened her first T-Bar tea salon in Gouger St which became a huge hit and she has since opened two other outlets in the city and at Burnside Village in addition to an online store.
The Adelaide Festival 2000 catered for audiences with food at The Canteen which celebrated the tradition of the Coles cafeteria and followed on from 1998’s Parachilna café theme. This year, while not an official Festival event, chef Ann Oliver will host “cold + hot + sweet and offal supper clubs” at the Red Ochre Grill (phone 8211-8555) for the duration of the Adelaide Festival (February 26 to March 13). Ann’s supper clubs at her former restaurant Mistress Augustine’s throughout the 1980s until 1991 were legendary and she will revisit the tradition for the last time before she gives up catering for large events.
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Film director Scott Hicks and his wife, producer Kerry Heysen
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