Magill Estate Joins Forces With Sydney’s Automata

Forget your assumptions about fine dining. Magill Estate and acclaimed Sydney restaurant Automata will dish up “honest” food without “smoke and mirrors” at a collaborative dinner next month.

An eight-course degustation menu prepared by Magill Estate head chefs Emma McCaskill and Scott Huggins, and Automata’s head chef Clayton Wells, will be paired with Penfolds wines from the Magill Estate cellar.

Partners McCaskill and Huggins – who worked at Michelin-star restaurants in Tokyo before taking the reins at the Adelaide eatery in 2013 – are in good company. Wells’ CV reads like a who’s who of the world’s top dining establishments including stints at Quay, Tetsuya’s and Momofuku Seiōbo in Sydney, Noma in Copenhagen and Viajante in London.

McCaskill and Wells will reconnect after working together at Tetsuya’s seven years ago. “It’s a collaboration we have been talking about for some time now,” McCaskill says. “Clayton shares a similar food philosophy to us being that we try not to over complicate dishes."

The trio is keeping a lid on the menu for now, but McCaskill promises the best of South Australia’s seasonal produce. "Like Clayton, we use the best techniques and produce to allow for the true beauty of the food to speak for itself. We will be looking to combine our favourite ingredients from local suppliers that we have worked with since the restaurant first opened."

The collaboration dinner will be held on Wednesday December 7 at 6.30pm at Magill Estate Restaurant. Tickets are $350pp. To book, phone 8301 5551 or email magillestaterestaurant@penfolds.com.