FOOD
WORDSSARAH NORRISPHOTOGRAPHYADAM GIBSON, CHRIS CRERAR, STU GIBSON08 VIRGIN AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2017
with ketchup will be what
you’ll think of for the rest of
your life ater any big night
out. If there is one restaurant
encapsulating what it is to eat
well in Australia now, this is it.
Flavour Fusion
The Agrarian isn’t the only
restaurant that’s showing of
Tasmania’s stellar produce.
It serves Big River Highland
Beef, which is reared on
a 100-hectare property on
the Derwent Valley, as does
Franklin in Hobart. Taking over
from former chef David Moyle,
Analiese Gregory moved
from Sydney’s Bar Brose to
head up the buzzy, handsome
restaurant that’s housed in
a converted 1923-built Ford
showroom. Alongside the
beef, the menu is rife with
Tasmanian seafood, including
angasi oysters warmed and
served with thyme oil, Bruny
Island sea urchins and whole
flathead with roe butter.
Hobart’s best restaurants
source their seafood from
family-owned Ashmore Foods
(founded by James Ashmore).
The company sells to Fico,
an elegant restaurant run by
other out-of-towners, Vue
de Monde-trained chef Oskar
Rossi (although he did grow
up in Hobart) and his Italian
partner Federica Andrisani.
The food they create is
inventive, predominantly
Italian in style, but with
flavours from Japan, and
they serve what is arguably
the best roast pigeon to
be found in Australia.
Another Italian is 20-seat
Templo — the kind of place
you want to bunker down
for a long lunch. Start with
gnocco fritto — golden-fried
pillows of Italian pizza dough
draped with prosciutto — and
end with gnocchetti in a rich
ragu. Match it all with a glass
from one of the best minimal-
intervention wine lists in
town. And if that kind of drop
is your thing, pull up a chair at
Dier Makr (it’s pronounced
die-er make-er), or settle in
for the $65 degustation, with
its clever and umami-rich
dishes. It came about when
owners Kobi Ruzicka and Sarah
Fitzsimmons visited Hobart
in 2016 and decided to open
a restaurant here, instead
of in Melbourne.
Now, what were we
saying about people moving
to Tasmania?CLOCKWISE FROM
ABOVE Fico’s contemporary
interior; roast pigeon at Fico;
the newly opened MACq 01
has rooms right on the water;
bee pollen gelato with white
balsamic meringue from Fico.DETAILS
Ashmore Foods 32
McIntyre St, Mornington;
http://www.ashmores.myfoodlink.
com. Dier Makr 123 Collins
St, Hobart; http://www.diermakr.
com. Fico 151 Macquarie St,
Hobart; http://www.ficofico.net.
Franklin 28-30 Argyle St,
Hobart; http://www.franklinhobart.
com.au. Templo 98 Patrick
St, Hobart; http://www.templo.com.
au. The Agrarian Kitchen
Cooking School & Farm
650 Lachlan Rd, Lachlan;
http://www.theagrariankitchen.
com. The Agrarian
Kitchen Eatery & Store
11A The Avenue, New Norfolk;
http://www.theagrariankitchen.com.DO
Buy direct from Tasmania’s
best farmers and producers
each Sunday morning when
Bathurst Street is converted
into the exemplary, alfresco
Farm Gate Market.
Bathurst Street, Hobart; http://www.
farmgatemarket.com.au.STAY
Spacious rooms, views over
the harbour and a desire to
bring to life the stories of
Tasmania make MACq 01
the hotel of choice for your
food adventure. 18 Hunter St,
Hobart; http://www.macq01.com.au.