Derwent Valley’s Agrarian Kitchen restaurant goes top of national culinary tree

The rise and rise of New Norfolk’s Agrarian Kitchen continued apace on Monday night, becoming the first Tasmanian eatery to be named Gourmet Traveller’s national Restaurant of the Year.

The rise and rise of New Norfolk’s award-winning Agrarian Kitchen continued apace on Monday night, becoming the first Tasmanian eatery to be named Gourmet Traveller’s national Restaurant of the Year.

The paddock to plate restaurant, which began life as a cooking school after husband and wife founders Rodney Dunn and Séverine Demanet left Sydney to set up business in nearby Lachlan, has won rave reviews for both the quality of its product, and commitment to sustainable food practices.

Severine Demanet and Rodney Dunn in the garden at the Agrarian Kitchen in New Norfolk. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

The Agrarian Kitchen prevailed against stiff national competition, including state winners Vue de Monde (Victoria), Casa (Western Australia) Australia, and McLaren Vale’s Maxwell Restaurant (South Australia).

In presenting the award, Gourmet Traveller editor Joanna Hunkin said the Agrarian

Kitchen had followed a remarkable trajectory from a small farm and cooking school, to what become what she described as “a global dining destination”.

The Agrarian Kitchen Eatery. Picture: Jarrad Seng

“The work Rodney and Séverine have put into transforming the property and its gardens, and establishing a truly sustainable food system, is extraordinary,” Ms Hunkin said.

“Tonight’s honour recognises that thoughtfulness and commitment and is testament to the fact that good things take time.”

Since moving from Lachlan to the former Willow Court psychiatric hospital at New Norfolk, the Agrarian Kitchen now comprises the cooking school, takeaway kiosk and restaurant, all sourcing produce from an adjacent, one acre, walled kitchen garden.

After teaching more than 10,000 foodies the art of cookery over 13 years in Lachlan, Dunn and Demanet closed the school in April 2021, relocating it and the garden to Willow Court where they first opened their restaurant and kiosk in 2017.

Originally published as Derwent Valley’s Agrarian Kitchen restaurant goes top of national culinary tree