One of Australia’s most famous restaurants has scrapped its entire menu – here’s why

A world-famous Australian restaurant has scrapped the menu that made it famous.

Restaurant Botanic’s acclaimed spread will no longer be served from July 17, despite foodies traveling from all over the world to try it.

The South Australian restaurant, which is among the world’s 50 best restaurants, has a new head chef – who wants the menu to reflect him.

The Three Hats restaurant is located in Adelaide’s Botanic Gardens. The biggest changes came when Justin James handed over the keys to the kitchen to head chef James Musgrave, formerly of Fervor restaurant in Western Australia’s famous Margaret River region. The restaurant has undergone a number of major changes, mainly due to a change of staff.

Justin James put Restaurant Botanic on the world map with dishes such as garden flower and green ants, abalone in botanical curry with myrtle buds and a sublime emu egg chawanmushi with wallaby tea, caviar and native lemongrass.

Botanic restaurant won three awards in 2023 and won South Australia’s best restaurant in 2022, before axing the menu.

James Musgrave’s exciting new vision is to ‘push the boundaries of showcasing indigenous ingredient profiles from across Australia

“As I think about my new role, I look forward to showcasing my ideas about food and hospitality,” said Mr Musgrave.

But the venue’s passion for Australian native ingredients with a commitment to using products from the best artisan, small batch producers across the country will continue.

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“I look forward to delving into the rich variety of ingredients sourced from Indigenous Australians and drawing inspiration from my time at Fervor, where we foraged for food alongside older Aboriginal people. We traveled through breathtaking landscapes from Esperance to the Kimberleys,” Mr Musgrave added.

The newly appointed chef will also draw on his recent stint in Hong Kong at the esteemed kitchen of James Sharman’s One Star House Party, which gave him experience in the detail and attention required to create such intricate dishes.

The new menu features a standout dish of Western Australian Maroon, grilled over rum, brushed with sea lettuce butter made from harvested seaweed and served with fermented pepper and sunrise lime paste, with a finishing sauce of smoked eel, koji and fragrant pickled lemon myrtle buds.

Diners trying Musgrave’s new menu can also expect a crocodile chawanmushi, a delicately steamed Japanese egg custard with a layer of crocodile bone dashi and hot smoked crocodile rib meat, finished with crocodile foam and vinegar made from lemon aspen leaf. Those who have tried it described it as ‘light’ and ‘divine’.

Foodies who are wary of trying such unusual flavours need only take a quick look at some reviews from amazed diners to be convinced to try the new menu.

Dry coral trout roasted over a wood fire, Manjimup truffle puree, nasturtium and ants. Finished with lemon myrtle buds and a sauce of koji and smoked eel.

The location is beautiful, intimate and the views of the surrounding 51 hectares of peacefully manicured gardens create a magical and unique atmosphere

James Musgrave will take over as Executive Chef at Restaurant Botanic on July 18

“Restaurant Botanic is the gold standard for fine dining in Australia,” the five-star review said.

Another agreed: ‘The most spectacular meal I’ve had in Australia. The menu was so well put together and the food was absolutely delicious and beautiful.’

‘I’ve been to some incredible restaurants and this is definitely the best restaurant of them all. The service was amazing, all the staff were lovely. The restaurant itself is beautiful and I love that you can see the kitchen working,’ raved another guest.

The venue is light-filled and intimate and the views of the surrounding 51 hectares of peaceful, manicured gardens create a magical and unique atmosphere.

The menu price is $365 per person with a selection of additional drink combinations available – including the ‘temperance’, a ‘complex and adventurous’ non-alcoholic selection of juices, infusions, ferments, kombuchas and mocktails, for $165.

Prices for alcoholic drinks range from $225 per person to a staggering $950 per person for an experienced cocktail aptly named ‘The Creme de la Creme’, which includes luxury drinks from some of the most prestigious labels from Australia and around the world.