Brompton Hotel

The Local Pub That’s a Gastronomic Hit

BY LUCY BREWER

It can be difficult to marry tradition with modernity. To redefine boundaries when a legacy is strong.

Yet that’s exactly what the heritage-listed Brompton Hotel has achieved.

Tucked away in First Street, Brompton, the pub was acquired by the Duxton Pubs Group, and reopened in November 2022 after a year-long renovation.

Food was a major focus, with a new menu developed by a Michelin-trained chef and gaming making way for more bar/meals space.

“We wanted it to be a dining-led destination,” said Joshua Hillary, Director of Operations for the BSGM Group, the management arm of Duxton Pubs.

Joshua’s has a rich background in restaurants and after connecting with Sydney chef, Andrew Wandless, ideas for the revamped Brompton Hotel flowed freely. Enticing him to Adelaide was a major coup.

Chef, Andrew Wandless.

“He had a really impressive CV,” said Joshua of Andrew, who previously worked at Michelin-awarded restaurants in London, including The Ledbury and Hibiscus, and more recently, at Una Mas, a tapas bar in Coogee Pavilion.

“We just kept chatting and conceptualising and this is the result.”

Other members of the renovation team included Sarah Matthews, Creative Director of the BSGM Group, and interior designer, Georgie Fried. Joshua said it was a collaborative process, and the team worked closely with Andrew, who was instrumental in the design of his kitchen.

“We took out the gaming machines that occupied a reasonable chunk of the footprint on the bar side of things,” said Joshua.

“We felt that to be a good local, you need to have a more expansive bar space for people… we were really keen to reclaim and extend the bar.

“It was about keeping the renovation modern but in a respectful way to the heritage of the building.

“It’s a beautiful old bluestone building.

“The bones of the building were there, it was just about highlighting them and freshening up.”

The team put a pool table in the bar, which according to Joshua isn’t something hotels often do these days, as it takes up seating space. For the Brompton, the pool table is about encouraging people to stick around, have a chat and enjoy the space.

When it first reopened, the Brompton made headlines as the pub without a schnitzel. It garnered good media and the pub was unapologetic about its stance, which has led to rave reviews about the menu and the quality of the food.

Joshua said the aim of the menu is to redefine the boundaries around what a hotel is, and the food it can offer.

“We wanted to have the dining room deliver an experience that you wouldn’t traditionally find inside a hotel,” he said.

The current restaurant menu includes dishes such as:

• garlic butter chicken Kyiv with cabbage slaw and lyonnaise potatoes

• gnocchi with basil and walnut pesto

• seared ocean trout with confit fennel and mussel escabeche.

The bar menu is where patrons can find more classic pub dishes, such as grilled squid, a beef burger, and fried chicken tenders, as well as the likes of Spencer Gulf king prawn rolls and blue swimmer crab linguine.

WINE AND COCKTAILS

Upon reopening six months ago, the Brompton had separate wine lists for the bar and restaurant, but after a few weeks, the lists were merged due to customer demand.

The wine list was designed by the highly respected Pablo Theodoros, who manages wine procurement for the Duxton Pubs Group.

“We binned the bar list and expanded the restaurant list across both spaces,” said Joshua.

“We changed up the by the glass offering to be a little bit more substantial in the dining room, and then included a broad section of the classics.”

Cocktails are also a focus at the Brompton—there’s a rotating list that speaks once again to pushing the boundaries of what to expect at a hotel.

“There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to get an amazing gin martini, as well as a really great pint of beer,” said Joshua.

“There aren’t a lot of venues that get that balance right, so it was a priority for us to have that really rounded offering.”

When it came to spirits, local was the focus, and the Brompton’s first pour range is from Adelaide Hills Distillery. The beer offering also celebrates local, particularly the breweries in the western suburbs.

“The western suburbs have such a strong craft beer portfolio, and we wanted to give a nod to each of those breweries,” said Joshua.

“Rather than having five IPAs from five different breweries, it was more about finding who did what best, and then letting that be a highlight on the list.”

Patrons can find beers from the likes of Shapeshifter, Bowden Brewing, and Little Bang (which is in the east but was acquired by the Duxton Group last year). There are also pub favourites like Coopers, and other more mainstream brands.

The Brompton has always been popular with locals in the western suburbs, and Joshua said nothing has changed.

“We were really passionate about making it a good local watering hole,” he said.

“In our branding work, we went back to the history of the area, and there are a lot of nods to the brick making and the clay.”

The suburb of Brompton is actually named after the 143-year-old pub.

Today, you will see a good mix of locals who head in three or four times a week, and the restaurant is drawing people from all over Adelaide for lunch and dinner.

But the Brompton isn’t finished yet.

“The event spaces that are upstairs are due to get a little bit of a refresh and bit of love,” said Joshua.

“There’s also a large, vacuous foyer… we’ve got a plan to reactive that space as well.

“We’re passionate about being led by the community and what they want to see, so we’ve been keeping close to our regulars and making sure we’re quick on our feet to adapt to what they’re wanting us to adapt to.”