Award-winning restaurant Van Bone to close in December

A wildly successful chapter in Tasmanian culinary history will come to a bittersweet end in December, when Bream Creek’s award-winning Van Bone restaurant closes its doors for good.

Van Bone head chef Timothy Hardy and restaurant manager Laura Stucken

A wildly successful chapter in Tasmanian culinary history will come to a bittersweet end in December, when Bream Creek’s award-winning Van Bone restaurant closes its doors for good.

After pouring their combined heart and soul into the intimate dining venue since opening in 2021, husband and wife team Laura Stucken and Tim Hardy are selling up to focus on their next big adventure – parenthood.

Mr Hardy said that while he and his wife were “enormously proud” of what they had achieved since founding the destination hospitality experience, now was the right time to walk away.

The view from Van Bone restaurant at Bream Creek. Picture: Adam Gibson

“It’s been an enormous part of our lives,” Mr Hardy told the Mercury.

“We opened in January 2021, but it’s probably been the better part of 10 years since the first idea, followed by building, and then opening.

“It’s been a wild ride, with lots of highs including national and international recognition.

“But the catalyst for the decision is that my beautiful wife, Laura, is pregnant and we’re having a baby.”

A helicopter arrives at Van Bone restaurant in Marion Bay. Picture: Jonno Rodd.

Mr Hardy said the couple would continue operating Van Bone until the end of December, before relocating to Ms Stucken’s home state of Western Australia to raise their family.

The talented chef said while the Van Bone name would also be travelling west, the lease on the restaurant’s building and land represented an ideal opportunity for ambitious restaurateurs looking to make their mark on the state’s burgeoning food scene.

Laura Stucken in the Van Bone restaurant garden. Picture: Dexter Kim

“We’re closing on our own terms, which is quite lovely, and it’s for really a positive reason,” Mr Hardy said.

“The business is doing really well, and this is purely a new chapter for us to raise a family.

“I’m sure it’s a big hole to fill in Tassie, but someone else might come along and create something special in their own way.

“They say all good things must end, but when we do finally close the doors, it will be sad.”

Van Bone will be closing on Monday December 23, with bookings currently being taken for dates three months in advance.

Mr Hardy said the property’s 21-year lease offered prospective buyers the chance to carve something new into a unique corner of Tasmania.

“The building itself is an incredible design, in an incredible location,” he said.

“This could be a brewery, a wedding venue, or somewhere for people to sling pizzas from the wood-fired oven.

“Anything with done with integrity will draw people in.”