4

GOURMET TRAVELLER 59

Hobart review

Franklin

30 Argyle St,

Hobart, Tas,

(03) 6234 3375,

franklinhobart.

com.au

Licensed

OpenLunch Fri-Sat

11.30am-2.30pm;

dinner Tue-Sat

6pm-10pm

Prices

Entrées $15-$22,

main courses

$35-$40,

dessert $14

CardsAE MC V EFT

NoiseNot hushed

Wheelchair

accessYe s

MinusA little

heavy on the dairy

PlusFranklin back

in the zone and

more user-friendly

AND ALSO...

Details

Left: cherry

clafoutis with

honey-kefir

cream. Below:

linguine with

sea urchin butter

and wild fennel.

LOCAL COLOUR

The bin-lane is precisely the opposite

of the classic corner location, and

the ye olde quality of the interiors is

technically only barely months old,

but there’s no denying thatThe Duke

of Clarence(above) has real old

British pub atmosphere, even if a

pub like this back in England would

be more likely to offer Fosters on

tap than the excellent selection

of local and British hand-pumped

brews. Throw in a serviceable menu

of snacks (fish fried in Old Speckled

Hen batter; a hefty pie of the day)

and you’re there.Laneway 152-156

Clarence St, Sydney

THE OFFAL TRUTH

Now’s your chance to jump if you

haven’t yet had the pleasure of

dining at theBanh Xeo Barpop-up

at The Cannery, which is slated to

conclude at the end of April. Get in

fast for intelligent, often offal-centric

takes on the Vietnamese canon

from a team whose experience

includes time at Ester, Fred’s and

St John in London. Banh mi with

fried nuggets of pig’s head? Beef

tongue and lemongrass banh xeo?

Hello.Andit’s BYO to boot.61-71

Mentmore Ave, Rosebery,

HELLO, HARBIN

It’s goodbye vin jaune and fancy

toasties and hello smoked

pork-knuckle bao, Chinese wine

sausage and cocktails with lychees

in them at the site that was once

home to Bar Brosé. It has reopened

under new owners asGinkgo Bar &

Dining, and contemporary Chinese,

channelling the robust flavours of

the north-eastern city of Harbin,

is the order of the day. 231a Victoria

St, Darlinghurst, (02) 9380 5556

from western Victoria, and Valentin
Morel’s unfiltered, unsulphured
chardonnay from the Jura, both
poured by the glass, make fine foils
for all the butter and cheese.
They’re not allowed to light
the fire before 3pm, so the wood-
roasted Cape Grim beef dressed
with walnut and smoked fat, say, or
the glazed pork neck with a whey
butter sauce only appear at dinner.
This is not to say the lunch
menu is a place of desolation
and despair. Far from it. Milky
swatches of pork loin that Gregory
cured herself melt on the tongue,
a dusting of horseradish and
smoked paprika dissolving into
sweet fat. Chicken liver parfait is
creamy, paired with yeast crisps,
slices of a dense, nutty rye loaf
and a cruel few pickled cherries.
An anchovy sauce, much like
what you might find in vitello
tonnato, brings fitting intensity
to hand-cut tartare of Littlewood
lamb, framed with peppery leaves
and horseradish. Smart.
Hobart’s weather can have you
looking for something a bit more
warming than charcuterie and raw

sheep. At lunch, the house-made

pasta of the day fills that gap:

linguine swimming in butter with

sea urchin folded through it,

perhaps, tuned up with wild fennel.

The one dish Gregory brought

with her from Sydney is a tribute

to Michel Bras rendered in crisp

leaves of potato teamed with salted

caramel and a brown butter

mousse, while the last cherries are

celebrated in a golden clafoutis

topped with a honey-kefir cream.

A recent profile in the pages of

this magazine questioned whether

Tasmania would be the move that

saw one of our most promising

young chefs realise her potential in

the kitchen. More than six months

into the job, all the indications are

positive. In Franklin, Analiese

Gregory has found a fitting stage

for her talents, and in Analiese

Gregory, Franklin has found one

of the most talented chefs of her

generation finding her voice. Right

now, Franklin is a restaurant in its

moment, a place on the up where a

diner feels blessed to be part of the

dance rather than a mere spectator.

Get amongst it.●