106 AUSTRALIANTRAVELLER.COM
The 10 ningTASMANIA IS OUR
GOURMET ISLAND
For Australia’s smallest state, Tassie sure is
ravenous. Producing some of the country’s
finest fare, from fine-dining restaurants to
hand-crafted cheeses, distilled spirits and
cool-climate wines, the island’s reputation
for good food shows no signs of decelerating.
This makes Tassie the gourmet hotspot for
mainlanders who come for Bruny Island’s
sharp, minerally oysters, golden Leatherwood
honey, Flinders Island grazed lamb, and
applauded restaurants such as Franklin, The
Agrarian Kitchen, and Templo. Perhaps one
of the best ways to nibble your way around
the state is to hire a car and hit some food
and wine trails, one of which is the Cradle to
Coast Tasting Trail. Of course, you may
need to intersperse all that with some hiking,
or you might be returning home with some
extra luggage you can’t check in.28
BOTTLE YOUR OWN WINE
Do you have a sneaking suspicion that
you would’ve been a talented winemaker
in another life? You can test your theory
and your palate at some of the country’s
best cellar doors. Blend it like a vintner
and slosh together vintages, vineyards and
varietals in a blending class, where you can
bottle your own handiwork to take with
you as proof your talents are wasted in
your day job. McLaren Vale’s d’Arenberg
offers a blending class, followed by lunch.
Tahbilk in Victoria teaches the art of
winemaking in a 1.5-hour class plus a
tour of their beautifully atmospheric
19th-century cellar. While Jacob’s Creek
teaches you the fundamentals of blending
in a concise 30-minute session, you can
even order an entire box of your quickly
created masterpiece, should you be wholly
convinced of your mastery.SOCIAL ENTERPRISE DINING
We all want to give back somehow, but oftentimes
the pitch from charities, while well meaning, is
abrasive and gratingly insistent. Most of us don’t
respond well to being accosted on the street
during our lunch break. But more and more
eateries are opening up where you can give back
while sipping your morning latte. Portal in
Sydney’s Martin Place looks like any other hip
city haunt with a chic architecturally considered
fit-out and a chef-created seasonal menu, but this
social enterprise cafe (and its sister cafe, Symbol,
in North Sydney) donates 100 per cent of its
profits to charities. Unlike tossing a coin into
a bucket, you can track exactly where your
money goes on the Portal website. Happily,
there are plenty of places to help your fellow
humans by tucking into a wholesome lunch,
each with their own charity alignments. Also
try Melbourne’s Feast of Merit in Richmond,
or Kinfolk in Bourke Street.29
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UNIQUE SYDNEY EATERIES
Melbourne often claims the culinary crown, but there’s
something about the Sydney hospitality scene that’s
become particular to the harbour city. From fine dining
to casual, eateries, Sydney has mastered a refined but
playful approach to style and food. Instead of relying on
the beauty of what’s outside, restaurateurs began making
spaces that would draw people off the beach and keep them
seated. Merivale (pictured above), of course, was among the
first to master the art of deftly attuning to a theme with
their diverse but en-pointe locales from the high-end
Mr. Wong in the city to the new, laid-back Bondi Italian,
Totti’s. But you’ll also see this chilled out, polished style
at the coastal-clinging Boathouse collection of restaurants
(pictured right), the newest of which is at the until-now
sleepy Central Coast town of Patonga.7