Elli Beer was born in Tanunda to Maggie and Colin Beer and attended high school at Scotch College in Adelaide. She continued the family tradition in food and hospitality through a number of iterations – many with her late sister Saskia – providing catering services in the Barossa and beyond.
The pair opened the Barossa Function Centre in 2008. It has since been reimagined into The Eatery, a lunch restaurant and cooking school where generations learn about food. The evolution of the original pheasant farm to the current multi-purpose facility managed by Beer is a success story borne of hard work, initiative and creativity. It continues to be a flagship of the Barossa tourism offering.
Beer’s contribution to the community has included service on multiple Vintage Festival committees. She is always ready to instigate new events or reinvigorate traditional celebrations to meet new challenges. Beer was also heavily involved in the Barossa and Light districts’ Riding for the Disabled Program, assisted with funding for the second Barossa Sculpture Symposium and led a three-year fundraising effort for the Carers Link Youth Program, with the Gamekeepers Balls and the Pheasant Pluckers Lunch.
Beer is the recipient of regional and South Australian Tourism Awards in the South Australian Tourism Commission’s emerging products category. She was inducted as a Baron of the Barossa in 2020, joining Maggie – inducted in 1992 – as the only mother-daughter duo in the prestigious fraternity.
In addition to the incredible locally sourced produce, Jensen has been instrumental in creating a paddock to plate dining experience at The Line and Label Restaurant, working with the head gardener to establish an orchard with fruit trees, greenhouse and herb and vegetable gardens on site. Jensen and his talented team utilise as much site-grown produce in their seasonal menu as possible.
