The Best Restaurants in Hobart Right Now

Hobart's restaurant scene has become one of Australia's most interesting precisely because it has remained small enough to be personal: the chefs who cook here know their suppliers, often grow or forage some of their own ingredients, and operate in a community that values the particularities of Tasmanian produce — the truffle, the abalone, the oyster, the King Island dairy, the wild salmon — with an intimacy that Sydney and Melbourne can produce-source from a distance but cannot replicate. Eating well in Hobart is one of Australia's most rewarding food experiences.

The Source at MONA — Vince Trim's The Source restaurant at the Museum of Old and New Art has the most extraordinary restaurant setting in Australia: underground sandstone chambers and the gallery relationship that makes the meal part of the MONA experience. The menu's Tasmanian focus and the precision of the kitchen deliver food that stands independently of the setting, and the setting is extraordinary.

Franklin — David Moyle's Franklin on Argyle Street (Hobart CBD, in a converted warehouse) is built around an open wood-fired kitchen of considerable intensity and a menu of Tasmanian produce treated with restraint and intelligence. The fish, the oysters, the beef all from Tasmanian sources, and the wine list's depth of Tasmanian producers make Franklin a complete expression of what the island's food can be.

Fico — Federica Andrisani and Oskar Rossi's Italian restaurant in Macquarie Street has become one of Australia's most celebrated Italian tables, with house-made pasta using Tasmanian grains, the best regional Italian wine selection in the country outside Melbourne, and a dining room warmth that reflects the chef-owners' genuine hospitality.

Pilgrim Coffee — the Hobart coffee institution that anchors the Salamanca and Elizabeth Street precinct coffee culture, Pilgrim's specialty coffee programme and the seasonal food menu provide the essential Hobart weekday morning experience.

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