Lunch at Mitolo Wines in McLaren vale

Mitolo has been in the wine game for quite some time. Its ultra-modern tasting room / restaurant is an architecturally designed building that incorporates 10 shipping containers, glass, concrete and timber and set against the picturesque backdrop of the McLaren Vale Wine Region towards the Willunga Hills.

The Mitolo Restaurant dubbed ‘Bocca di Lupo’ is open for lunch 12 – 3pm Thursday – Monday and open for Dinner 6-9pm Friday – Saturday.

The restaurant focuses on house made, house grown and locally sourced produce that delivers striking modern flavour..

The menu embraces tradition and much loved flavours of the Italian kitchen.

Eat from the a-la -carte, or enjoy the Da Noi “Feed Me” experience or the La Panarda – a very long lunch with a series of plates and delicacies.

We chose the “La Panarda” and were not disappointed in the slightest. La Panarda features a selection of small plates and larger dishes designed for sharing. It is contemporary Italian fare built around traditional Italian flavours.

There is a selection of salumi and formaggi dishes such as Salame (which we had), sheep’s milk ricotta and caciocavallo (wood-smoked stretched curd), and small dishes including fried baby gnocchi, Arrosticini lamb or chicken (skewers), Salasicca (wood oven heritage pork sausage) and pomodorini (a tomato dish made with raw, preserved and fire-roasted tomatoes).

Pasta (all made in-house) is a key element of the menu, we had the Conchiglie (Lamb Ragu), other larger dishes including lamb tomahawks (which were excellent) cooked on the restaurant’s Argentinean-style Assado grill.

Dolci (sweets) include maritozzi which is a nostalgic treat—a sweet, small yeasted bun with Tahitian vanilla and a lick of sugar syrup over the top.

The staff were very well informed about all the dishes, very friendly and not at all pushy. The food was very, very good.

Whilst there is no wine matching with La Panarda we decide to have the “Flour Mill Road” tasting which featured six wines from the Single Vineyard range.

Each course was unique and truly a delight to experience. The waiters took it in turns to inform us of the contents of each course. They were both very knowledgeable and pleasant.

They kept coming to our table for a few laughs and stories. The experience wasn’t cheap, but if you have a chance, we would definitely recommend that you try it.

Don’t plan a rushed lunch here. Relax and enjoy the view, the wine and the food!