Luke Burgess back in town with pop-up

Creating a pop-up seafood eatery in Hobart has been a “freeing” experience for Garagistes co-creator and chef Luke Burgess, who says he is testing the waters in Tasmania for a future project.

The venture is Burgess’s first since leaving the state almost two years ago, and is a collaboration with his Brazilian/French chef partner Deborah Blank and Spirit People’s Angus Burton, on Sundays and Mondays at Dier Makr on Collins St.

The style of the pop-up’s seafood dishes has been influenced by Burgess and Blank’s travels abroad over the past 14 months. “Going away has brought a freedom to me, mentally, to feel that anything is possible,” Burgess says. “Whereas before I felt a bit locked into a predefined identity, and things had to be a certain way.”

They have called the pop-up Dier Marisqueria, which is Spanish for “seafood restaurant”, and the trio uses many of the same suppliers from Garagistes, with an emphasis on seafood including sea urchins and oysters and Tassie vegetables.

Topping it off are bespoke cocktails made by Burton, for whom “the most exciting aspect of working with Deborah and Luke lies in the dynamic opportunity of weaving together ideas and experiences from different contexts into one shared space in Hobart – and that goes for the food, music and drinks”.

The aim of the pop-up is to celebrate ocean harvest. “We wanted to make it casual,” Blank says. “Somewhere people go to relax without a lot of expectations, but with great food.”

Burgess says dining experiences are best when they’re small, personal and hands-on, which is why the couple are serving customers and washing dishes as well as cooking.

“If you want to enjoy your job and enjoy what you do, maybe having a smaller place, where you do the bulk of the work, is a way to cut down your labour costs and actually make it financially viable,” he says. “Customers will have to come to expect a different kind of service that’s attentive and informed, but not so over-the-top.”

The pop-up, which runs for four more weeks and is 50 per cent booked, seats 25 people per service and no tables will be turned. “We want to have a connection with our customers,’’ Burgess says.

The couple will travel to Arles, France, at the end of the pop-up before returning to Tasmania for another culinary adventure.

Dier Marisqueria is open Sunday from 12.30pm-late and Monday from 6pm-late, until Monday, June 19, Dier Makr, 123 Collins St, Bookings, diermarisqueria.com