Indulge Tasmania: Tiny gem of an eatery worth rediscovering
Even though this little jewel on the fringe of Hobart’s CBD has been around a for while now and has a great reputation for fine dining, it still feels like a wonderful secret, writes Alix Davis >>
Food and Wine
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It’s much loved and fully booked every time I visit, but Templo still feels like a wonderful secret. Perhaps it’s the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shopfront on the fringe of the CBD. Or maybe it’s the cosy space that manages to seat just 25 people yet invokes both intimacy and conviviality. Whatever it is, they need to keep on doing it, as a meal at Templo is always an event to look forward to with anticipation and recall with fondness.
We are not late-night party people so arrived for the 6pm sitting on a recent weeknight (the second sitting is at 8.15pm). It was a balmy evening and the translucent shades were drawn against the western sun, filling the red brick-walled space with a golden glow. Tables along the window were filled with couples and the larger, communal, table also hosted pairs of diners who inevitably started chatting to each other. We had our own table but began talking to our neighbours and soon discovered we had plenty of mutual friends (hey, it’s Hobart!) and spent a pleasant evening making some new ones.
The set menu ($95, $60 for lunch) is scrawled on the blackboard that covers the back wall but I’m facing the window and decide to relax and let the meal unfold. The blackboard is also home to a well-curated drinks list. There’s a couple of beers, a few cocktails (the negroni at $20) is highly recommended and wonderfully easy to drink) and a wide selection of wines by the bottle and glass. These include natural and low-intervention wines as well as roses and chilled reds and plenty of after-dinner options. Italy is well represented along with Tasmania and South Australia. If you’d prefer an alcohol-free option, the house-made chinotto is a sophisticated spritz with classic bitter orange flavours.
Service is slick and friendly and we are quickly delivered two pieces of warm, slightly dense ciabatta drizzled with olive oil and dusted with flaky sea salt. It’s simple and delicious and whets my appetite for what’s to come.
Up next are perfectly plump pillows of fried dough draped with tissue paper-thin slices of cured pork. Eat them as is – it’s two bites if you’re polite, one if you’re not – or add a few slivers of the turmeric-hued zucchini pickles that are served along side and make a sharp counterpoint to the velvety pork.
Although the buzzy space is full, the waitstaff move easily – distributing plates, clearing tables and replenishing drinks as needed. Very little effort is required on the part of the diner to enjoy the evening and I think that’s the mark of true hospitality.
Thinly-sliced grass-fed beef carpaccio is topped with mustard cream, shaved radish and a scattering of parmesan. My husband generally likes his steak done to medium, but he attacks this dish with relish and the beef is meltingly tender.
Head chef Ryan Watson has been in the kitchen for a few years now and is a deft hand with local produce.
Zucchini is abundant at the moment and here it’s simply grilled and placed on a mound of fresh stracciatella. The surprise topping is the housemade XO sauce – a traditionally Asian condiment that was invented in Hong Kong in the 1980s. It’s packed with dried seafood, cured pork and a number of aromatics and adds a umami hit that has me scraping the plate.
Of course, a meal at Templo wouldn’t be complete without a pasta course and tonight’s offering is squid ink cappalaci – jet black parcels stuffed with potato and salted fish sitting in a pool of fragrant prawn bisque and crowned with a dollop of bright salsa verde studded with baby capers. My only complaint was that I couldn’t scoop up all the bisque and desperately wanted to ask for another piece of ciabatta for mopping.
Our final savoury dish is a crumbed and fried pork cutlet – cut for easy sharing and accompanied by a delicately shave sugarloaf cabbage slaw. The slightly vinegary slaw cuts the richness of the pork, making it a dish that’s both hearty and fresh.
Cloud-like zabaglione strewn with slightly chewy amaretti biscuits is the perfect dessert, its sweetness contrasted by the tartness of diced blood plums that add dramatic colour to the plate.
Book ahead for a meal at this tiny jewel and let the anticipation of a satisfying and memorable evening build.
Templo
98 Patrick St, Hobart
Opening hours: Wednesday, Thursday, 6-11pm, Friday to Monday, 12-3pm, 6-11pm
On the menu
Gnocco fritto, beef crudo with mustard cream, zucchini with stracciatella, pork cotaletta with sugarloaf slaw, and zabaglione with blood plum.
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