Tasmania’s TOP TEN RESTAURANTS

+ The two locals in the national Top 15

TWO Tasmanian restaurants have been named in the country’s best of the best, as the state’s food scene becomes more and more nationally acclaimed.

Delicious magazine today released its inaugural list of the top 15 restaurants in the country, with The Agrarian Kitchen coming in at No.9, and Franklin at No.14.

And in another first, Tasmania has its own top 10 restaurant list from the magazine which for four years has been releasing its 100 restaurants in NSW, Vic, Qld and SA.

Topping the state’s 10 is The Agrarian Kitchen, which co-owner Rodney Dunn said is all about giving visitors a sense of place.

“Everything’s sourced from the raw ingredient and made,” Mr Dunn said.

“Whether it’s the ferment or the bread or the butter, it’s taken from the very raw elements.”

The restaurant in New Norfolk is housed in a former mental asylum, and has been praised by Delicious for its unique ambience and its seasonal menu. Mr Dunn said the Tasmanian food scene is deserving of being on a national pedestal.

“It’s all people ever seem to talk about,” he said.

“I think it’s a big part of the state and certainly becoming a big part of the reason for people to travel here.”

Delicious editor-in-chief Kerrie McCallum has said Tasmanian restaurants have in the past few years “solidified their place on the national radar”.

“Beginning with Hobart and more recently with notable openings in Launceston, Tassie has become a destination for eating out,” Ms McCallum said.

“This is why we knew it was imperative to include a top 10 in Tasmania in our inaugural delicious. national restaurant guide, which our readers will no doubt use locally and during their travels in the year to come.”

Hobart’s Franklin Bar & Restaurant came in at No.2 on Tasmania’s top 10 restaurants list.

The restaurant’s mastermind Analiese Gregory said the growing reputation of Tassie’s food scene is due to the local produce.

“Primarily it’s the produce. Every time I go somewhere else I like to take Tasmanian produce with me,” Ms Gregory said.

“I find that it’s second to none.”