The Country Women’s Association has long informed kitchens across the nation with home-style recipes, traditional dishes, preserves and baked goods, and while elevated CWA may not be a food category, it should be. Case in point: at Esmay – which opened quietly in Adelaide at the tail end of 2025 – executive chef Alanna Sapwell-Stone tiptoes the line between comfort and creativity with all the balance of a culinary tightrope walker.
The emu pastrami donut (an essential order from the small but beautifully executed menu) is like a small, round Reuben, its fan fillet sourced from a local emu oil producer and treated like pastrami; sandwiched with house sauerkraut and mustard. In buoyant fresh contrast, chunks of fresh peach topped with house-made Jersey curd is a masterclass in texture, with blanched young almonds, slightly bitter in their youth, adding satisfying crunch.
But stealing the show is a vivid crab claw-topped tomato and red pepper terrine, using wild celery seeds picked at the nearby Adelaide Botanic Garden to make a vinegar that delivers floral notes.
South Australia’s regional food bowls, its sense of genuine community, and finding the right permanent home for Esmay – formerly a restaurant that’s roamed the nation – was the trifecta that drew Sapwell-Stone and her husband chef Matt Stone to Adelaide.
The new restaurant opened in conjunction with Blanco Horner Hospitality Group (Restaurant Botanic, Botanic Lodge) in the heritage-listed 1883 Hackney Hotel following a thoughtful renovation. Natural sunlight spills across the homely 40-seat dining room’s smattering of wooden tables and kitchen bench seating, overlooked by luminous chandeliers. Designer Emma Aronsten of EDA Interiors has used a combination of soft, earthy browns and pale neutral hues, which is instantly comforting. Elements of the past remain untouched, such as the colourful leadlight panes in the original doors. Sapwell-Stone’s respect for heritage is real. Esmay is named after her old Volkswagen.
And in the kitchen, each treasured tool of her trade is displayed with pride, just as her grandad stores the tools in his shed. Even the crockery feels like treasures you’d find in a nana’s antique cabinet. A Rockmelon and Champagne Spider delivers playful dessert drama in a coupe glass. The adults-only riff on the classic soft drink float encapsulates all the fresh fun of Adelaide during festival season. Handy, as all the East End action is a short stroll away.
Meanwhile, discarded wine lees from her husband’s winemaking gig are incorporated in ice-cream. Let’s hope it’s an indication that this dream team is here to stay.
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