Header image for inspiration only | credit: Pantry on Prospect
Dining among gourmet smallgoods, artisan jars and shelves of ingredients, all curated by two of Adelaide’s best-known chefs. It’s about to become a reality for one of Adelaide’s liveliest food strips.
Pantry on Prospect, from restaurateurs Callum Hann and Themis Chryssidis, is expected to open this March at 71 Prospect Road, bringing a combined restaurant and pantry experience into a bold new space. Hann, well known to many South Australians from MasterChef, joins long-time collaborator Chryssidis on the project, which has been in the works for some time.
Hann and Chryssidis are well established in Adelaide’s food scene, known for Sprout Cooking School and popular venues Roma and Olive.
Olive
Roma
Set within a light-filled, colourful fit-out, Pantry on Prospect is designed to feel bright and “a little more bold” than what you’ve seen from the pair before. The venue aims to capture the suburb’s bustling energy, a destination that continues to present new favourites for dining and drinking.
“Prospect is so close to the city, but it’s still got its own thriving kind of cosmopolitan feel down Prospect Road, and we really want to create a place where the locals and the neighbourhood feel welcome any time of the day,” Chryssidis says. “To come in for a delicious little snack or to grab some takeaway or to sit down and have a restaurant-quality meal in a beautiful relaxed environment.”
“We were always keen to look for opportunities in the area and when this one came up, we jumped at it,” Chryssidis says.
The venue will seat around 60 to 70 people, intentionally keeping a smaller footprint to retain its local charm.
“We wanted to have that little bit of neighbourhood charm,” Chryssidis says.
At the heart of the concept is a fully intertwined restaurant and pantry. In a way, it blurs the line between dining and cooking at home. You might be sitting there savouring an ingredient-forward dish and be inspired to try something like it later in your own kitchen. And you’ll likely be able to pick up some of those same ingredients while you’re there.
“It’s a really unique concept in that we’ve got a restaurant right in the same building as the pantry,” Chryssidis says. “You’ll be able to come in and grab some ingredients if you’re on your way home, grab a coffee as well, but then at the same time we’ve got a fully fledged, fully operational quality restaurant.”
In fact, the separation is minimal.
“For us, it is the same space. There’s no dividing… If you want to, you could eat dinner in the pantry,” he says. “They are one and the same.”
The food offering will lean into produce and flavour rather than complexity, with the final menu still being refined ahead of opening.
“It’s a menu that is designed to be humble and flavour first,” Chryssidis says. “We want the food to be first and foremost delicious and memorable… we’re not trying to be pretentious. We just want it to be wholesome and delicious for the neighbourhood.”
That philosophy extends to how ingredients are treated in the kitchen. By “humble”, Themis says he means, in a way, respectful.
“Respectful of the quality produce we have in this state and the incredible producers,” he says. “We want people to understand where their food’s coming from and to appreciate that sometimes the best things in life don’t have to have a lot done to them.”
The space itself will reflect that same approachable energy, with a bright, playful aesthetic that leans away from the neutral tones seen in many contemporary venues.
“It’s light, it’s bright, it’s designed to be a place that feels fun and casual, not intimidating,” Chryssidis says. “We’re being a little bit more bold… a lot of designs these days are quite muted and for me, we wanted to have a little bit more fun.”
While anticipation is building, the team is working hard to perfect the menu and finalise the fit out.
“Opening a restaurant is one of the more challenging businesses you could ever open,” he says. “As you get closer to the time, you get excited, but your anxiety certainly starts to increase… but the excitement is high for us and the team.”
For now, Pantry on Prospect is positioned as a neighbourhood-first venue where people can drop in for a coffee, fill their basket with amazing artisan ingredients, or settle in for a relaxed restaurant experience (or maybe do all three).
With reservations set to open in early March and the doors set to follow shortly after, you won’t have long to wait to see the concept come to life.
Pantry on Prospect
Where: 71 Prospect Road, Prospect
When: Expected mid – late March
For more info, click here.
