Why this could be Australia’s best destination for food

There’s something in the water in Tasmania. Like, literally. There’s something in the soil, too. Even something in the air. There’s a special quality to the land and the ocean and the pristine atmosphere that surrounds the Apple Isle that just seems to guarantee good food. You can’t go wrong here.

Oysters at Get Shucked, Bruny Island.Credit: Tourism Tasmania

Of course, part of this superiority might be cultural, too. Tasmania has always had good produce, but it didn’t always have good cuisine. Not the cuisine we know it for today, anyway.

Now, however, the stars have aligned. The state’s natural gifts are being harnessed by talented chefs and passionate foodies and cooks across Tasmania, in ways that are imaginative and skilful, to form one of the greatest gastronomic cultures in the country.

So, let’s dig in.

Begin with that produce, which is just insanely high quality across the board. Tasmanian seafood, harvested from the cold, clear seas by which it is girt, is justifiably famous around Australia, and indeed the world: oysters from the likes of Smithton and Freycinet, briny and mineral-rich; southern rock lobster, harvested from the ocean near Bicheno; abalone, foraged around King Island; scallops and sea urchin from around the state; fish from off the coast and in the rivers.

On land, the bounty is just as rich. Take a stroll through Hobart’s Farm Gate Market and you begin to get the idea. Here, the stallholders have to be the growers, the producers or the artisans themselves, and the street is lined with those selling fresh fruit and vegetables, gourmet meats, homemade cheeses, even artisanal gin.

Locals chat to them about their products. It’s a learning experience.

Tassie’s fruit is probably best in the Huon Valley, just south of Hobart, where the bulk of the Apple Isle’s eponymous product is grown. Everything here is great, however, from the berries to the leafy vegetables to the sustainably raised meat.

That said, you can reliably find high-quality fresh produce anywhere you go in Tasmania, though particularly in the Tamar Valley, with its ideal growing conditions, the Coal River region, and the Channel region. Keep an eye out in these parts for “farm gates”, the foodie equivalent of a cellar door, sampling and buying direct from the producer.

Let’s talk specialty products, too. There’s great cheese on Bruny Island, and King Island. Black truffles are produced in the north of the state. Much-sought-after leatherwood honey is made in the state’s west.

Though of course, all of this only just begins to explain why so many food-obsessed travellers are flocking to Tasmania these days. For the whole story you have to turn to the cooks, to the Tasmanians who know how to treat produce right, who have ushered in the modern revolution.

Rodney Dunn and Severine Demanet are pioneers in Tassie, passionate gourmands who opened The Agrarian Kitchen in sleepy New Norfolk back in 2008. Their restaurant, cooking school and farm has since become stuff of legend, guiding fellow Tasmanian cooks with their farm-to-table ethos. You can’t help but feel the love here for real, quality food.

Truffles at The Agrarian Kitchen.Credit: Adam Gibson

Then there’s Matthew Evans, the Sydney restaurant reviewer turned sustainable farming advocate, who runs Fat Pig Farm in the Huon Valley and hosts regular feasts of local cuisine.

And don’t forget Analiese Gregory, yet another outsider who found she just couldn’t leave Tassie. The former Sydney-based chef moved to the Apple Isle and carved a niche for herself as a forager and hunter, someone who does pop-up cooking events showcasing everything that Tasmania – her Tasmania, wild and bountiful – has to offer.

Analiese Gregory has carved a niche for herself as a forager and hunter.Credit: Adam Gibson

Then you have Timothy Hardy, a young chef doing great things, running a pocket-sized restaurant in Marion Bay called Van Bone that plays by its own rules, while still basing its offerings around what’s local, what’s seasonal.

There’s Craig Will, executive chef at Launceston’s famed Stillwater Restaurant, yet another who uses to bounties of Tasmania to create something great, though this time with influences from Japan and mainland Asia.

One of the most remarkable things about these chefs is that they’re not, in fact, remarkable. We’ve barely even scratched the surface of great restaurants and innovative chefs in this state, one that has a population that’s a mere tenth of Melbourne or Sydney.

If you’re touring and eating here you would have to make bookings to go to Fico, to Dier Makr, to Lucinda, to Templo, to The Source, and to Timbre Kitchen. But then you would have to think about the smaller, simpler eateries too, like Masaaki’s Sushi, the Lobster Shack and more.

Hobart restaurant Dier Makr. Credit: Dier Makr Photographs

There’s a spirit of teamwork among Tasmania’s chefs and producers, a joyful, collegiate atmosphere that breeds success, a feeling that everyone is trying to lift everyone else up with them. It’s no wonder people come here for a holiday and never leave, particularly if they’re into food.

There’s something in the water here. Doesn’t take long to figure that out.