Winemaker Warren Randall adds Bridgewater Mill to his restaurant stable

SOUTH Australian winemaker Warren Randall may have started his working life as a cellarhand at Wynn’s but, in addition to his many wine interests (Seppeltsfield, principally) Randall these days is very much in the restaurant industry.

Winemaker Warren Randall will soon add the iconic Bridgewater Mill to his portfolio of restaurants. Source: News Corp Australia

The 58-year-old entrepreneur is a shareholder at the evergreen Star of Greece at Port Willunga; landlord of the much anticipated Fino @ Seppeltsfield, which opens to the public next weekend, love child of David Swain and Sharon Romeo’s much-awarded Fino, in Willunga; and soon-to-be proprietor of the iconic Bridgewater Mill restaurant complex in the Adelaide Hills.

Randall settles on the Bridgewater acquisition February 1 and all the signals are that the transition from Lion Wine, which bought the restaurant when it acquired Petaluma so many years ago, back to private hands will be good news. “It is such a magnificent iconic state property and it will be a great pleasure and a lot of fun to invigorate her,” says Randall.

Bridgewater’s head chef Zac Ronayne and his kitchen brigade will all stay on. Stage one will mean expanded outdoors dining and many more “services” each week, including dinner three nights. Stage two includes major architectural enhancements, “designed by SA’s best architect, Max Pritchard, to draw up our new plans and vision for John Dunn’s superb 1860s Flour Mill,” says Randall.

There will be a new kitchen. In stage three, the Croser underground sparkling cellars will be re-purposed. Options under consideration include a microbrewery, cidery, cheesery, “speakeasy”-style bar or upmarket wellness centre. “It’s exciting that someone wants to do something with the place,” says Ronayne, who has a long association with Bridgewater Mill. “It’s been too exclusive … We want to open that right up, make it more accessible, something more reflecting the Hills.” Variety, choice and a more relaxed approach to the food are all part of the brief, he says.

Source : The Australian   John Leathlen   November 18th 2014