FOOD
FONDRU’S FROMAGERIE AND WINE BAR 374 Murray St, North Hobart 6289 6684. Licensed. Open Wednesday and Thursday 511.30pm, Friday to Sunday noon-11.30pm
B ack in the day when the Harvey Wallbanger was my mother’s cocktail of choice and Tab soda was a special treat for us kids – sometimes with a sneaky splash of Cinzano – fondue nights were all the rage.
An orange enamelled fondue set, complete with tiny wooden-handled forks, took pride of place in the laminated sideboard in our redbrick abode in the suburbs. Unfortunately, given my mother’s aversion to cooking anything beyond meat and three veg, the symbol of 1970s sophistication remained pristine throughout my childhood and into adult years.
When I sold that very same sideboard a few years back on Gumtree, as Mum was downsizing, the fondue set was nowhere to be found – no doubt consigned to the great tip shop of time. But I thought of it again recently when I noticed a new eatery just a block away from the main drag in North Hobart.
Fondru’s – conceived by Room for a Pony’s Drew Port and Zambrero franchisee Stuart Churton – is a compact fromagerie and wine bar at the very top of Murray St, opposite a rather forlorn-looking Crescent Hotel.
When we step into Fondru’s about 6.30pm on a Thursday, I am immediately struck by a comforting waft of melted cheese as a couple sitting at the window tuck into a petit pot of fondue.
It also occurs to me that I am glad we booked ahead. We three score a U-shaped booth at the rear of the long, narrow space, which was most recently home to a curtain shop. Our Kiwi friend, whose wife grew up in the neighbourhood, says she remembers it as a corner store back in the days when North Hobart was a decidedly less genteel place to live.
We order drinks and the friendly waitress returns to run us through the meat and cheese-focused menu, which takes in nibbles, cheese boards arranged by origin (French, Italian, Spanish, Tasmanian), charcuterie and, of course, savoury and sweet fondues. There’s some “other stuff” such as baked brie and rosemary, truffle mac and cheese, and roasted potatoes blanketed in raclette.
Also on offer are cheese flights, pairing “ripe for consumption” morsels with your favourite tipple – be it white, red or sparkling wine, whisky, beer or something fortified or sticky. I file this away in my menu memory for a future visit, instead opting for a charcuterie board, the potatoes, and what I’ve really been craving – fondue.
As we graze on cured meats – namely squid ink salami, nduja salami, bresaola and chorizo – I note most of the patrons in our section are women. One exception is a former Labor staffer squeezed in at the bar, perhaps lamenting the party’s stinging defeat on March 3. The cheesy spuds arrive shortly after, accompanied by crisp pickled cauliflower and cornichons.
I squirrel away some cauli to try with the main event – a traditional Swiss fondue oozing with emmenthal and gruyere and spiked with dry white wine. It’s served in a pot sitting within a metal frame, under which flickers a tealight. We have also ordered sides of crispy bacon bits and balsamic pickled onions (yum).
Spearing cubes of bread with toothpicks shaped like a fleur-de-lis, we take turns plunging them into the pot and then dipping the cheesy goodness into the bacon bits. Aside from being delicious, it’s a pleasingly communal way to dine.
Just as I fear I am about to slip into a cheese coma, my companions are hit by a second wind. They order a cheesemonger’s choice selection – which turns out to be gorgonzola, manchego and formagella di capra – and more wine before making a date to return the same time next week.
Watch the video of Drew Port and Stuart Churton talking about fondue, available on Monday for Mercury subscribers at themercury.com.au