MasterChef star Sarah Clare adds slice of culture to Huon Valley restaurant scene

Following success on last year’s MasterChef series, a contestant has opened a restaurant south of Hobart and we’ve got the verdict on the food.

MasterChef star Sarah Clare puts the finishing touches on one of her dishes at her new restaurant, Ilha, in Cygnet. Picture: EDDIE SAFARIK

SINCE following Sarah Clare’s success in last year’s MasterChef competition, my husband and I have been keen to try the restaurant she opened a month ago in Cygnet.

We decide to have a Sunday night date night, a chance to relax and enjoy some good food before the working week begins.

ON THE MENU Tortilla made with Cygnet potatoes, onions and free-range Huon blue and black eggs, $8; zucchini and ricotta pastels, $4 each; carrot salad, $12; Portuguese tarts, $4.

Clare has taken over the former Schoolhouse Café on Cygnet’s main street and created Ilha. It’s a modern Australian restaurant with South American influences, serving small share plates.

The name, which means island in Portuguese, is a nod to the restaurant’s Brazilian inspiration and its island state location. Tapas isn’t our usual choice, but it is a fun way to eat. It’s also an easy way to rack up quite a bill — especially when the dishes are as tasty as they are at Ilha.

Tasmanian MasterChef star Sarah Clare recently opened Ilha restaurant, in Cygnet, in a former schoolhouse in the Huon Valley town’s main street. Picture: EDDIE SAFARIK

We start with the tortilla, a wedge of potato, egg and onion. It may look simple but turns out to be one of our favourite dishes with its beautiful, subtle flavours.

Another standout is the zucchini and ricotta pastels — small, crispy pastry parcels filled with the tastiest zucchini mix I have ever eaten. It takes quite a bit of willpower to resist ordering more.

My husband enjoys a couple of squid pinchos, which weren’t on the menu but replaced the wallaby pinchos that were listed. They come with a vibrant green salsa verde, and I feel a bit like MasterChef judge Matt Preston as I spoon the sauce straight into my mouth.

The colourful, healthy Carrot Salad, featuring rainbow carrots, labneh, and herbs with honeyed-toasted grains at Cygnet’s Ilha restaurant. Picture: EDDIE SAFARIK

To counterbalance the richness of the pastels’ pastry, we opt for a bowl of carrot salad. The thin strips of orange, purple and yellow carrots remind me of carrots we have grown over the years and we make a plan to get back to growing our own.

The carrots are served with labneh, herbs and toasted grains, and are a crunchy, fresh addition to our meal.

The delicate Portuguese tarts on offer at Cygnet’s Ilha restaurant. Picture: EDDIE SAFARIK

Options for dessert are a semifreddo or Portuguese tarts. We opt for a tart each. We are told they are very small, in case we want to order more.

But I love the option of a small dessert — just a couple of mouthfuls of delicious sweetness to finish a meal.

Ilha is BYO only, but Clare has plans to get a liquor licence and has some sommelier friends ready to help her curate a wine list.

The delicious Pastels _ crispy cachaca pastries filled with zucchini and ricotta, available at Cygnet’s new Ilha restaurant: Picture: EDDIE SAFARIK

She says the locals were “a bit tentative” about a tapas restaurant in Cygnet, but she seems to have won them over and, in the short time she has been open, already has regular customers.

Clare spent May working hard to get the restaurant open. On the first day of service, an electrician was installing lights in the kitchen and there was still painting to be done.

She says she has opened restaurants and bars for other people on much bigger budgets. This time, with her own money and a much smaller budget, she says could not have done it without the support of the community.

Her family and friends have helped out, and complete strangers have also dropped in to lend a hand. Since opening early last month Clare also has received offers of produce grown in local backyards.

“There’s such a vibrant community around here,” she says. Clare, who made the top 10 in last year’s MasterChef competition on Channel 10, returned to Tasmania as soon as her time in the competition ended. “I knew I wanted to open something in Tassie to make the most of all the produce,” she says.

The Tortilla made with Cygnet potatoes, onions and free-range Huon blue and black eggs available at Cygnet’s Ilha restaurant. Picture: EDDIE SAFARIK

Ilha Restaurant 23 Mary St, Cygnet Open Thursday and Friday 5pm-11pm, Saturday 11am-11pm, Sunday 11am-9pm. [e-mail]

She tells me her experience on the show gave her confidence in her ability and she received great advice from the judges that helped her decide what sort of restaurant to open. It has also won her fans from around the country, with one couple travelling to Tasmania recently from WA to eat at Ilha, an experience Clare says was “humbling”.

As our date night ends, we don’t have anywhere near as far to travel, and we make it home in time to catch the last half hour of that night’s episode of MasterChef.