The new wave
AUSTRALIA’S DINING SCENE IS BACK ON COURSE, WITH MUST-TRY EATERIES THAT TEST THE BOUNDARIES AND INSPIRED OFFERINGS THAT BORROW FROM THE CLASSICS. A hamlet on Tasmania’s east coast is the unlikely location of this fine-dining establishment.
These are the 12 hottest restaurants in Australia right now
Be prepared to settle in because a meal at Van Bone is never a rushed affair. It starts with a leisurely 45-minute drive east from Hobart to Bream Creek, a whimsically named patch of pastoral bliss on the coast. The rammed-earth restaurant is embedded in rolling green hills (grazing Holstein Friesian cows included) with 180-degree views of Hellfire Bluff and Maria Island at its disposal. To aid the winding-down process, co-owner and interior designer Laura Stucken will offer a glass of the state’s finest (try Small Island Wines’ crisp pinot gris from the Tamar Valley) while you peruse Tim Hardy’s menu, which is usually 12 to 14 courses but today runs to 15 because, he says with a smile, “I got carried away.”
Everything at Van Bone is considered, from the Boomer Bay oyster dabbed with fermented green blackberry and served on a bed of delicate seashells to the sweet and tender southern calamari and abalone, swimming in an unctuous pork broth.
The menu descriptions may be stilted (“Southern rock lobster, garden carrot”) but there’s nothing stuffy about eating here. Van Bone, which opened in February, seats just 20 diners and features a communal table – lovingly crafted from torched Tasmanian oak by Launceston furniture designer Simon Ancher – that encourages convivial conversations about the food and the view... and the view and the food.
The menu relies on ingredients sourced from the land and sea directly around the restaurant, including its own vegetable gardens and orchards. Hardy, who grew up in the area but has spent his career working everywhere from Brae in Victoria to Daniel Berlin Krog in Sweden, is determined to showcase the region through its produce and ensure that every dish is “super-seasonal”.
It works. Van Bone feels brave. And exciting. After four hours of fine food, wine and service, it’s also wonderfully restorative.