Dining Out in the Clare Valley

It's the good life...

Clare Valley's restaurants and food outlets make a point of offering ingredients and products that are either locally-grown or locally-made. And for good reason. The landscapes are not only idyllic, they're also lush and fertile. The local growers understand that clean and green means flavour: 'organic' and 'grain-fed' are not exercises in branding, they're sources of pride and guarantees of good old-fashioned taste.

Many of Clare Valley's gourmet food producers have returned to time-honoured means of food processing. At their various farm-shops, cellar doors and outlets you can see them using antique presses that render olive oil extra-virgin, real grindstones that retain the goodness of wheatgerm, and of course that most trustworthy of machines in the production of gourmet sausages, chutneys, relishes and mustards - the hand.

But where to dine?

You really are spoiled for choice. You could try a pub like the historic Wheatsheaf with its great menu and funky arthouse décor, or Swans of Mintaro once a falling down cottage. You could eat at a cellar door restaurant like Reilly's Wines, or the Skillogalee farmhouse with its views to dine for. You could even take a cooking course at the renowned Thorn Park under the tutelage of host David Hay.

Alternatively you could experience everything the region has to offer during the astonishing gastronomic blow-out that is the Clare Gourmet Weekend. This was Australia's very first regional food and wine festival, and it's still the finest. During this May weekend, you'll join 15,000 merry-makers as they savour the flavours from Clare Valley's many food producers, restaurateurs and wine-makers.