Tasmania’s top chefs: 30-25

They are Tasmania’s top culinary creatives, making their mark across the state while holding Tassie up on a platter to the world. Over the next five days, the Mercury counts down the state’s most influential chefs.

We count down Tasmania’s most influential chefs.

Tassie’s tucked away location as an island off an island has in the past mostly kept it away from stray international or mainland gazes.

Our compact state, home to a bounty of fresh produce grown, plucked and fished locally to most of us has never really seemed extraordinary. Most Tasmanians have taken it for granted.

But now, a handful of culinary creatives are producing a groundswell of excitement for Tassie’s riches by transforming how we eat and crafting dishes that have caught the eye of serious foodie critics.

Over the next five days we count down the top movers and shakers in the Tassie food industry, chosen for their influence in shaping the state’s dining scene.

Sweet Envy’s Alistair Wise. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

30ALISTAIR WISE

Sweet Envy, North Hobart

With a mother who is the renowned cook Sally Wise, it would have been amiss to not to follow in her footsteps. And thankfully for us, Wise did and has become a leading pastry chef. His North Hobart patisserie is a go-to for all things sweet, with mile-high lemon meringues and practically every-flavour macarons. His savouries also tick a few boxes. Wise has also sprinkled his magic in Sydney, opening up sister store Drury Lane in the city’s Inner West last year. Recently, Wise joined forces with a few other Hobart foodie powerhouses to open Side Show eatery in the new Parliament Square redevelopment.

Head chef at The Den Josh Mathewson. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

29 JOSH MATHEWSON

The Den, Salamanca

Wasabi buttermilk crispy chicken niblets and loaded kimchi and cheddar fries are some of the satisfying morsels this ex-Saffire chef is dishing up in new Hobart restaurant, The Den. Mathewson’s cooking pedigree is as fancy as his creations, having headed up Pearl + Co at Victoria Dock before trading it in for Saffire at Freycinet.

Junwei Lu, the executive chef at Wrest Point Chinese restaurant Kwan Ho, sister restaurant to Me Wah. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

28 JUNWEI LU

Kwan Ho, Sandy Bay

Chopstick-licking Chinese meals are synonymous in Tasmania with Me Wah in Sandy Bay and Launceston, and this culinary genius is the man behind the menu. Lu headed up the Launceston post of Me Wah for more than a decade before landing the plum role as executive chef at Kwan Ho, Me Wah’s sister restaurant in Wrest Point. Sadly, Lu hasn’t been able to work since sustaining serious injuries from a falling tree branch in Richmond earlier this year. But it hasn’t stopped us from including him in the Mercury list for his role in popularising top-notch Cantonese fare.

Geronimo chef Sam Pinkard

27 SAM PINKARD

Geronimo Aperitivo Bar and Restaurant, Launceston

Pinkard presides over Geronimo, a paddock-to-plate offering in the main street of Launceston. Those visitors embarking by plane or boat in the north of the state most often than not inevitably make their way here. And what they get is a true taste of Tassie. Almost everything on the menu is trucked in from the owners’ farm 20km away in Longford, including the quinces and pears from the property’s 150-year-old orchard, the Wagyu beef, sheep and fistfuls of herbs. Pinkard’s flair in the kitchen has kept this humble restaurant in the upper echelons of its game.

Chef Michael Mackaway of the Sebel at Launceston.

26 MICHAEL MACKAWAY

Bluestone Bar and Kitchen at the Sebel, Launceston

Wild clover lamb cutlet, kimchi arancini and apple strudel gyoza are some of the Australian meals with a hint of Asian influence being prepared under executive chef Michael Mackaway’s watchful eye. Located at a hub for travellers, this restaurant at the Sebel in Launceston is instantly an ambassador for Tassie’s offerings. And Mackaway doesn’t disappoint, having picked up a few gongs in industry awards for his bold dishes.

Peppermint Bay restaurant head chef Toby Annear. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

25 TOBY ANNEAR

Peppermint Bay, Woodbridge

Peppermint Bay can only be described as destination dining. While it’s certainly a 40 minute picturesque commute from Hobart south to the quaint township that is Woodbridge, it’s still a longish drive or even a popular boat trip. But the commute is made worthy by the offerings of head chef Toby Annear. Under Annear, the restaurant makes it own onsite-cured meats, sourced from Bruny, and the bulk of the produce comes from within a 20km radius — which includes their own sprawling kitchen garden bordering on the block next door. Previously of Franklin, Annear is no stranger to honest fare, served in sophisticated ways.

TOMORROW: Top Tassie chefs 24-19