Yes, The Agrarian Kitchen cooking school has a restaurant spin-off - and you can find it in the Instagram-friendly surrounds of the former New Norfolk asylum.
Milky light pours through tall windows, framing neighbouring convict-built barracks and illuminating a room that’s simple, spare, peaceful: the style neither country nor city but bearing the best qualities of both. The conversion from asylum to Derwent Valley dining destination, about 35 minutes’ drive north-west of Hobart, shows the kind of confidence that similarly emboldens the kitchen to keep things simple and strictly seasonal: the likes of charred cabbage and apple with no more support than radish and gribiche. A fluffy golden ricotta dumpling, its richness lightened by the gently sweet rainbows of braised watermelon radish and brassica leaves, adds technical proficiency to the seasonal ethos. The drinks list, meanwhile, is short, bold and resolutely Tasmanian, with a smattering of bottles from the mainland propping it up. Seasonal, old-fashioned fruits star for dessert, though the crowd-pleaser is a scoop of sourdough ice-cream, made with the kitchen’s left-over wood-fired bread: simple, sustainable, memorable.
This review was made independently for the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide. The guide’s reviewers visit unannounced and pay their way.
Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide
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