Jared Chahoud is no stranger to O’Connell Street. His father, Gaby Chahoud, has several venues on the same strip, including Pellegrini Cafe (his first), Byblos, Da Vinci Ristorante and Cafe Palazzo. Jared spent decades in and out of restaurants on that street.
For Jared, it’s a “home away from home. It’s been my life. I’ve always been in and out of the shops. I’ve done every role, from being a pizza maker to working front-of-house to doing back-of-house stuff. I’ve seen every bit of it,” he says.
Now, Chahoud junior is stepping into a new role: owner-operator. Last week, he opened Icardis alongside co-owner Andrew Marks. The burgundy and walnut-hued space sits just 500 metres from his father’s first venue. In many ways, it’s a love letter to both his dad and the North Adelaide diners he grew up serving.
Icardis’ menu draws influence from across the Mediterranean, with Italian-inspired pastas including rigatoni with pork and fennel sausage, borlotti and porcini; a Grecian grilled octopus with chickpeas and roast grapes; and a Middle Eastern wood-roasted pumpkin served with date molasses, sesame and rosemary.
“Rather than focusing on one specific cuisine, we’ve just gone for food that’s really homey,” he says. “It feels as if your parents or grandparents are cooking a family dinner.”
There’s a woodfired oven, which Jared says is “the heart and soul of the venue”. It’s used to cook flatbread (perfect for mopping up whipped feta); Skull Island prawns with garlic butter; chicken with corn, zucchini and graviera (a Greek hard cheese); and an orange cake with burnt meringue. Another dessert, a chocolate budino with salted caramel and espresso cream, is not woodfired but has “quickly proven itself as a winner. It’s just going off its head”.
The cocktail list, created by Louis Pugliese of Once Golden Liquor Merchants, includes an Espresso Martini with black cherry espresso, and a Negroni with peach and honey.
The wine list was curated by John Retsas of First Drop Wines, who is “a very good friend of the family”. Wines lean local. “We could have gone down the Mediterranean route, but we wanted the best of the best and SA has that.”
Gaby owns more than 20 venues, and his son is aiming to measure up to that standard. He’s two venues down (his first, Arlo’s Cafe, opened earlier this year) and plans to open three more – a bagel shop in Glenelg, a frozen yoghurt shop on the Fleurieu Peninsula, and another in the Central Market Arcade – in the new year.
Icardis has already received Gaby’s stamp of approval. “He was away in Lebanon while we were setting everything up, but he’s now come and he’s eaten everything, and he said it’s some of the best food he’s ever had. And Dad’s a very, very hard critic.”
Icardis
67 O’Connell Street, North Adelaide
(08) 7123 3950
Hours:
Tues to Thu 5pm–10pm
Fri to Sun midday–3pm, 5pm–10pm
www.icardis.com.au/
@icardis_adl
Dining and Cooking