Image: Maggie Beer
A new Adelaide restaurant has been praised by Australian chef, food author and restaurateur Maggie Beer, after a recent visit left the celebrity cook raving about the food, service and setting.
If you’ve grown up around Adelaide, you may remember the historic Hackney Hotel. Dating back to 1853, this iconic institution has recently seen renovations, with the ground floor being reimagined into an intimate 40-seat restaurant, Esmay.
Led by Executive Chef Alanna Sapwell-Stone, the project is built on years of experience and half a decade of travelling around the country, testing the concept. Officially opened in December of last year, Esmay has found its footing and clearly impressed not just locals but the pros, too.
Maggie Beer shared her experience in a post on social media. “We celebrated the last night of our holiday with dinner at Esmay here in Adelaide,” she said. “We had watched the historic Hackney Hotel (circa 1853) being rebuilt over a very long time and only recently opened. The excitement was knowing it was the brainchild of chef Alanna Sapwell-Stone, who, with her husband Matt, has now made Adelaide their home.”
After working at Brisbane’s ARC Dining in 2019 and being named Gourmet Traveller’s Best New Talent in 2020, Alanna began making a name for herself. She went on to start Esmay in Noosa, before taking it around the nation to Canberra and Perth, before finally landing in Hackney.
Now calling Hackney Esmay’s new home, Alanna undertook renovations to the iconic Hackney Hotel, transforming it into her “most complete vision yet.” Maggie described it, saying, “The refit is stylish, yet personal and comfortable, and luckily, given the heatwave we’re experiencing, great air conditioning.
Just like Maggie, using local produce and making the most out of it is a priority for Alanna. Maggie praised her cooking, sharing, “Alanna is definitely a produce-driven cook and I wish I had taken some photographs, but I was too invested in eating each morsel…
“Whilst every part of the meal was delicious, the dish of the night for me was the mackerel; just seared on the fire and left to ‘set’ under heat lamps served on a bed of thick raw heritage tomato… but Colin couldn’t get enough of Alanna’s signature blue cheese potatoes.”
Alanna’s vision has always been to create produce-driven, seasonal menus that are grounded in an ethos of thoughtful simplicity. She is inspired by nostalgia and comfort, yet delivers it with a refined, modern edge. Alanna and her team work closely with South Australian growers, fishers, and makers, making sure every dish created tells a story of place, season, and authenticity.
Since opening, Alanna and Esmay have quickly become a spot for fresh food, authentic flavours and well-trained techniques.
Find Esmay at 95 Hackney Road, Hackney SA.
Esmay
When: Thursday to Sunday
Where: Hackney Hotel, Adelaide
For more information, click here.
