Jason Loucas
Chef Nick Kavenagh moved to Tasmania eight weeks before he opened Atlas & Vine. “I’ve lived and worked in big cities, and I’m just over the hustle and bustle, I suppose,” he reflected when chatting with Gourmet Traveller. “I really love the community feel that Hobart has. Everyone really supports each other here, and creating my first restaurant in that is quite special.”
Originally from Melbourne, Kavenagh is surprisingly softly spoken given his impressive resume, which lists time in Copenhagen at the cultural earthquake that is Noma, Core by Clare Smyth in London, Melbourne’s Vue De Monde and high-end Queensland resort Qualia. “I’m bringing my knowledge from those places to an experience that isn’t so refined, and is a little bit more affordable for everyone but still showcases those techniques,” he says.
Naming local producers he’s working with at the new central Hobart restaurant off the top of his head, he lists Tongola Cheese, Fork It Farm, his fisherman, Damo, from Aiden’s Fresh Tasmanian Seafood and Gardner’s Bay Farm. “They just shoot me a text like “we’ve got baby radishes, or we’ve got hakurei turnips, do you want some?” And then that will shape our menu for the week,” he explains. “It’s like a different world for produce here.”
The influence of Noma is particularly evident on Atlas & Vine’s menu structure: “Seasons can be a bit hard to catch, and they don’t always work out, so my take on it is quarters,” he explains. “In January, we’ll go into the vegetable quarter, and Gardner’s Bay will essentially grow all of our vege, so they’re already planting seeds. After vegetables we’ll go into the fermentation quarter; we’ll make our own miso, garums, vinegars, koji… a lot of stuff that I learned in Copenhagen. Then we’ll go into meat season to align with winter.”
Dining is offered à la carte, or as a set menu. Recent dishes have included bright green ricotta ravioli with spinach and pangrattato, lamb backstrap with oyster mushrooms and pepperberry jus, and an Apple Isle tarte Tatin with baked bay leaf cream. “One of the favourite snacks we’ve done so far was a sea parsley tart with a smoked oyster cream, and bluefin tuna belly and loin. It’s a good example of a seafood quarter snack, with a lot of seafood inspiration,” he says.
As a diner, it might be easy to overlook the degree of planning and organisation that has gone into upcoming quarters. “We’ve been opening the venue with seafood, while organising what we want planted for the vegetable quarter, and also preparing for the fermentation quarter. It’s been… character building,” he jokes.
The restaurant is primarily fitted out with crockery, Tasmanian blackwood furniture and artwork made by locals — which proved a challenge in itself: “A week out from our soft opening we didn’t have tables… Kate [Bowman, a ceramicist] was trying to deliver plates,” he recalls. Ultimately, it all worked out for the 19 August deadline Kavenagh set for himself. The 1890s-built furniture workshop (which became a coffin workshop in the ‘20s), reimagined by Taylor + Hinds Architects (who also designed Gourmet Traveller’s 2026 Tasmania Restaurant of the Year, Scholé, next door) now hums with a bar area, four stools in the front window, and 15 tables in the dining room.
It’s clear Kavenagh has a lot of appreciation for the region, even beyond its producers. “I used to come down here on holidays a lot, and loved going out to see Rodney [Dunn] at The Agrarian Kitchen. I love what he does, and he’s also just a very warm person,” he said. Naturally, the wine list also focuses mostly on Tasmanian labels. “We’ve tried to keep it flexible on prices, and the list itself will evolve throughout the quarters as well,” he says.
When I ask about his proudest moments in the first weeks of Atlas & Vine, Kavenagh gets emotional. “On Friday night I looked up from the pass; everyone was smiling and laughing. I actually went out the back and cried.”
Atlas & Vine is open Tuesday–Saturday at 229 Liverpool Street, Hobart. Bookings are available online, and some tables reserved for walk-in diners in the bar.
