Spotlight On... Leigh Street Wine Room
It Takes a Village
At Leigh Street Wine Room, owners Sali and Nathan Sasi have made it their mission to not only support local growers and winemakers but also local artists, with their entire collection of tableware handmade by JamFactory ceramicists Stephanie James-Manttan and Jordan Gower.
Words by Vanessa Keys
Vanessa is a journalist, copywriter, editor and content strategist.
Photos by Lewis Potter, Andre Castellucci and Sven Kovac.
Ask a chef where they source their pasture-raised eggs and buffalo milk, and it’s likely you’ll walk away with intimate details about microclimate and soil conditions. Ask where their plates, bowls and vessels are from, and most will probably struggle to give you an answer.
One couple determined to smash that stereotype is Sali and Nathan Sasi, the owners of Adelaide’s newest small bar, Leigh Street Wine Room. Once occupied by Super White Dry Cleaners, the narrow space is now home to an intimate dining room with an all-natural wine list. The hyperlocal menu is a who’s who of SA producers – Shady Grove goat milk, poultry from Saskia Beer, Ngeringa-grown biodynamic veggies, chooks from Nomad Farm – but the focus on local doesn’t just stop in the kitchen. The restaurant’s entire tableware collection has been designed and created by local Adelaide ceramicists Stephanie James-Manttan and Jordan Gower at JamFactory’s Ceramics Studio, a stone’s throw away from Leigh Street.
“As a small, family-run business, it was important for us to not only support local winemakers, producers and suppliers, but also local artists,”
“We weren’t satisfied with just serving local food, we wanted the whole story to be complete. So, we looked at all of the other elements of the restaurant to see where else we could keep it local, and tableware immediately jumped out.”
Originally from Sydney, Nathan’s 20 year history in hospitality includes stints at Dinner by Heston and Moro in London, Husk in South Carolina and Nomad in Sydney, before he opened his own restaurant, Mercado, in 2016.
When he got the itch to do something new, he decided to move to Adelaide, his wife Sali’s hometown. “I’ve been blown away since coming here,” he says. “There’s not many other regions in Australia where you’re in such close proximity to so many makers. Take JamFactory: where else in Australia, let alone the world, do you have immediate access to local artists who make such incredible work?”
The collection that Nathan and Sali commissioned comprises nine pieces: a rice bowl, an entree plate, and a cup and saucer made from fine Raku clay; three flat plates made from coarse Raku clay with a white matte glaze; and a little sauce pot, ramekin and pasta bowl made from fine white stoneware. “The style is probably best described as refined 1970s pottery,” says Stephanie, who worked on the flatware while Jordan created the more delicate pieces. “The kind of clay we use – it’s called groggy clay – creates an aesthetic that’s both refined and rustic. The effect is also earthy and raw, which ties in nicely with the way that food is being made and presented these days.”
For Stephanie, who was appointed head of JamFactory’s Ceramics Studio in January, working with local businesses provides more than just a commercial outlet for her work; it creates vital opportunities for collaboration.