LONG AND SHORT
Luke Burgess’s new pop-up brings an intimate dining experience to Hobart, writes ALIX DAVIS.
Step inside an anonymous office building and take the lift to the seventh floor. Walk up a flight of stairs, past an office, an unmarked door and a gargantuan timber bust of Pablo Picasso. Make your way through a timber-slatted corridor, then into a rooftop courtyard and suddenly, a wall of floor-to-ceiling glass spreads Hobart at your feet. Welcome to Seven and a Half, chef Luke Burgess’s take on a Tokyo private dining club that’s just popped up for 12 months at what was formerly a luxury short stay apartment. Not so much a restaurant as an intimate dining experience, Burgess serves just 10 people at each sitting – stay as long as you like.
The set menu varies depending on the availability of produce and Burgess’s mood, which is usually about taking your time and engaging with the food. It’s also based on working with his long-term suppliers (Burgess ran the much-revered Garagistes in Hobart from 2010 to 2015) whose products have changed and evolved over the past decade. We begin with plump Angasi oysters, served on the shell and drizzled with a little quince vinegar. They’re briny, with a hint of tangy sweetness from the vinegar and pair perfectly with the sake that’s placed on the table. Wines are matched to each course and include a selection from France and Tasmania, with a comprehensive introduction to each from Burgess.
Bay trumpeter is served sashimistyle with vividly hued chunks of turnip that have been fermented in beetroot. A hibachi in the courtyard is used to grill chunks of blackback salmon that have been marinated in koji and miso for a week, as well as ribbons of abalone braised in a pressure cooker before being threaded onto skewers and charred to finish. Served with a crunchy radish slaw and a Coal River riesling it’s a tasty take on a mollusc that can easily fall flat in the wrong hands.
While there are Japanese elements to much of the menu on the day we dine, there is inspiration from around the world, including from one of Rome’s most famous dishes, trippa alla Romana. Burgess has replaced the tripe with calamari and, breaking every cheese-plus-seafood rule, the rich tomato sauce is topped with a flurry of pecorino.
We finish with a palate-cleansing blood orange granita with an aged mascarpone that has the texture of dense ice-cream as the shadows begin to lengthen and the volume of laughter and chat increases.
Make yourself at home.