Food + Drink

FOOD + DRINK TA S T E I T...

Launceston is the gateway to some of Tassie’s finest gastronomic delights. Sip on award-winning wines, feast on fresh, local produce grown on the city’s doorstep and work your way through the best on offer, one meal at a time.

PYENGANA DAIRY FARM GATE CAFÉ PYENGANA Cheese devotees should hotfoot it to the picturesque Farm Gate Café at the awardwinning Pyengana Dairy. Wander down to the robotic dairy to see cows being milked, then head to the café and peer through the floor’s glass pyramid into the cheese cave below before settling in for a meal – the grassy meadow outside has picnic tables with views of the valley and the farm’s lush paddocks. Cheese tastings are available, with more than 15 varieties on offer. Try the Vintage Cloth Bound Cheddar – it put Pyengana on the map. thetasmanianfoodco.com.au

HARVEST COMMUNITY FARMERS’ MARKET PYENGANA DAIRY

HARVEST COMMUNITY FARMERS’ MARKET LAUNCESTON Every Saturday morning, a car park on Cimitiere Street transforms into the beating heart of the town’s food scene, with 40-odd stalls selling everything from free-range duck to sourdough, cider and freshly dug spuds. Farmers share tips with their customers and stallholders are quick to recommend others if they don’t have what you want. Best of all, the volunteer-run market promotes sustainable food production, so it’s all ethically produced and farm-fresh. harvestmarket.org.au

BLACK COW BISTRO

BLACK COW BISTRO LAUNCESTON Launceston, or “Lonnie”, as the locals call it, is home to some great restaurants and buzzy eatery, Black Cow Bistro, is one of the best known. Set in a former butchery in Lonnie’s centre, it serves some of the country’s best beef. Top menu picks include the Robbins Island Wagyu rump, which is perfect for sharing, and the Cape Grim rib eye – just try to resist gnawing on the bone. There’s an upscale-yet-unpretentious vibe and the wine list is a corker, too. blackcowbistro.com.au

DEVIL’S CORNER

CHARLOTTEJACK DEVONPORT Two things are immediately apparent when you meet Ben Milbourne: the celebrity cook smiles almost constantly and he’s passionate about north-west Tasmanian produce. His new restaurant in the heart of Devonport shines a light on local farmers, fishers and growers and you can watch him at work from a front-row seat right next to the kitchen. If you want to get even closer to the action, Ben also organises day tours that visit local suppliers, including Ashgrove Cheese, Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm and Ghost Rock Vineyard. charlottejack.com.au

DEVIL’S CORNER CELLAR DOOR APSLAWN If sitting on a sun-drenched deck, drinking vino and snacking on seafood share plates and woodfired pizzas sounds like a good time, put Devil’s Corner Cellar Door on your list. Located on the Tasman Highway, this impressive vineyard is hard to miss, thanks to a towering 12-metre-tall lookout with sensational views of the Moulting Lagoon and the Freycinet Peninsula. A word to the wise: climb the stairs to the top before any wine tasting. Afterwards, kick back on the deck as you sample up to 10 wines (Resolution pinot noir is a hit) and feast on mussels, oysters and pizza. devilscorner.com.au

TASTE.WALK.TALK TOUR LAUNCESTON The best way to uncover Lonnie’s gourmet hotspots is with a local. Brock Kerslake, who has called this town home since he was 12, launched his Taste.Walk.Talk tours in 2016 – and they’ve become one of the best experiences in Launceston. Excursions range between two and four hours and Brock, a former school teacher, combines interesting snippets about the city’s past with visits to local foodie gems, including cafés, bars, cider makers, beer brewers, delis, providores and more. tastewalktalk.com FREYCINET MARINE FARM COLES BAY Slurping oysters fresh from the ocean is one of north-east Tassie’s most awesome foodie experiences. On Oyster Bay Tours’ twice-daily expeditions around Freycinet Marine Farm, you wriggle into waders before striding through the shallows to see oysters at home in the estuary. Head back to dry land to learn how to shuck them and enjoy half-a-dozen with a glass of wine and freshly steamed mussels, also grown by Freycinet Marine Farm. Tours leave and return from the Freycinet Marine Farm Shop, so you can feast on oysters, mussels, scallops, abalone, hot-smoked salmon, rock lobster and more – before and after the experience. oysterbaytours.com; freycinetmarinefarm.com HELLYERS ROAD DISTILLERY BURNIE Once a dairy farm and now a distillery, Hellyers Road is Australia’s biggest whisky brand. Located on prime grazing land on the edge of the town of Burnie, this is the place to learn how the amber liquid is made. Take a guided whisky walk and as the doors to the distillery open, you’ll be engulfed by the rich smell of oak and spirit. Once you taste some of the latest batch direct from the barrel, you might not want to leave. Luckily, there are comfortable seats in the visitor centre where you can sample more of the range and gaze out at the views of Emu Valley and the occasionally snow-covered Black Bluff Ridge. hellyersroaddistillery.com.au 230 THE NUMBER OF VINEYARDS IN TASMANIA 430 THE NUMBER OF DAIRY FARMS ACROSS THE STATE HELLYERS ROAD DISTILLERY

FREYCINET MARINE FARM

JAMES BOAG BREWERY TOUR LAUNCESTON Steeped in history, the James Boag Brewery is one of Australia’s longest operating breweries and a tour of the site offers a brilliant behindthe-scenes look into its past and the beer-making process. The 90-minute experience takes in the brewhouse, fermentation processes, maturation, lagering tanks and the bottling room. You’ll find out about Tassie-grown barley and hops – and can try hops in its dried, pre-beer form. Save yourself for a tasting of three beers, paired with local cheeses at the end of the tour. jamesboag.com.au

41° SOUTH TASMANIA

41° SOUTH TASMANIA DELORAINE Ziggy Pyka takes his salmon seriously. The affable German uses a secret blend of twelve herbs and spices in his delectable hot-smoked salmon and he likes to joke that it’s “one better than the Colonel”. The results are top-notch and you can try them and other salmon and ginseng products on the site of his fish farm in Deloraine. Another highlight for visitors is a tour of the property’s dense bushland and waterfall-fed aquaponic system in the company of George, Ziggy’s bear-like Australian shepherd. 41southtasmania.com

RED FEATHER INN & COOKING SCHOOL DELORAINE From the outside, the charming sandstone carriage house of the Red Feather Inn looks unchanged since colonial times. Inside, the Georgian building is home to luxury suites and a highly regarded cooking school. Whether you want to hone your skills at pasta making, vegan fare or butchery and sausage making, there’s a class to suit. If it all sounds too much like work, book a table at the on-site restaurant instead, which uses estate-grown ingredients and produce from a nearby heritage farm. redfeatherinn.com.au

RED FEATHER INN & COOKING SCHOOL

TRUFFLES OF TASMANIA NEEDLES Plenty of islands have legends of buried treasure and Tasmania is no different. The pristine environment of Northern Tassie is a perfect spot to grow truffles, which can fetch thousands of dollars per kilogram. Fortunately, you don’t need that kind of cash to see what makes them special. Truffles of Tasmania’s large oak plantation below the majestic Western Tiers is the ideal place to learn about the prized tuber. It’s open to visitors year-round and from May to September, you can head out with trained dogs and their handlers to hunt for truffles. You might even be able to buy some of that buried treasure to take home. trufflesoftasmania.com.au

TRUFFLES OF TASMANIA

20,000

KILOGRAMS – ESTIMATED PRODUCTION OF AUSTRALIAN TRUFFLES BY 2020