Tedesca Osteria: a farmhouse restaurant by Richard Cornish

For years, Melbourne chef Brigitte Hafner carried a notebook with her everywhere she went. She had written the word ‘Tedesca’ on the cover and in the pages wrote down every single idea she had for her perfect restaurant. In her mind, she wanted a place on a farm, a place that offered warmth and generosity, where she could cook with seasons and cook over fire. That all seemed like an unachievable goal for Brigitte when she moved to Red Hill with her architect partner Patrick Ness several years ago.

TEDESCA OSTERIA: a farmhouse restaurant

She continued cooking at Fitzroy’s Gertrude Street Enoteca, a business she owned with business partner and wine importer James Broadway. There she and her chef prepared seasonal Italian dishes, and she worked on her column for Gourmet Traveller Magazine. Seventeen years previously, before she and James opened what was once one of Melbourne’s favourite bar/ cafes (sadly, it closed last year), she was chef for Stefano de Pieri in his famous Mildura Restaurant. Before that, she was working for Guy Grossi in his Bourke St Melbourne Italian grill. “I love simple, beautiful Italian food,” says Brigitte. “There is always a direct connection between the kitchen and what is being grown and harvested.” Then a few years ago, an old gallery not far from her home in Red Hill came up for sale. The old weatherboard building had many incarnations but was well known as Noel’s Gallery. “Patrick looked at it and shook his head,” says Brigitte. “But it fitted so many of my ideas for Tedesca. There was land surrounding the building and an established garden.” Together they worked on the building, turning this small gallery into a country restaurant. At its heart is a wood-fired oven and charcoal grill built from handmade Daniel Robinson bricks by a master German bricklayer and fitted out with a hand-forged iron grill. A great antique Hungarian workbench was brought

in to be both a work surface and a dining area. Exposed copper pipes were laid to feature in the bar. A gigantic slab of Tasmanian oak was carved to form the front door. The gardens were remodelled, new paths laid, and a vineyard planted. In March 2020, Tedesca Osteria opened. With James running the front of house and beautifully eclectic cellar, Brigitte is free to run the kitchen. There is no a la carte menu at Tedesca. Brigitte serves a set menu of six dishes of seasonal food from the garden, surrounding farms, and Victorian fisheries. Sitting at the linen-covered table are mid-20th century-style chairs. With a blackened wood ceiling, whitewashed walls, and mullioned windows, the room feels like a Michelin-starred restaurant in Spain or France. Critics fell in love with Tedesca. The 2022 edition of the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide awarded Tedesca not only the Victorian Restaurant of the Year but the much-coveted Australian Restaurant of the Year.

When you visit, the meal might start with little zippoli, anchovystuffed Italian dough fritters. There is most likely a mezze of pickled vegetables, then a little salad of peas and fetta followed by the softest, most succulent charcoal-grilled calamari with fresh pita and olives. Then perhaps a pasta course of tagliatelle with lobster and fresh tomato and fragrant saffron. There could be grilled chicken, steak or duck, and perhaps some Himmel Torte with fresh berries made to her German mother’s recipe (‘Tedesca’ is Italian for ‘German’). “I want people to feel at home. I want to look after people and give them the very best food I grow or have grown for us and cook it simply and beautifully. That is what Tedesca is about.”

Tedesca Osteria, 1175 Mornington-Flinders Rd, Red Hill, tedesca.com.au