Molto bene: Osteria Vista at Stefano Lubiana Wines

 

Not far from our house, heading towards the Bridgewater Bridge is a turnoff up a dirt road. You wouldn't know it unless you looked for it. Today we were looking for it as we had a lunch booked at the recently opened Osteria Vista located at Stefano Lubiana Winery.
I had been following their opening on social media and was very keen to try one of their set lunches. Joined by my beautiful friend Dee, we were overdue for a gossip and had arranged a ride so we could partake in matching wines.

We are greeted by our lovely waitress, Sarah, and sat at a table with a spectacular view over the Derwent.

It just feels so very Italy here. I am transported back to Tuscany and the aesthetics and mood just screams Buongiorno!

We are brought the set menu as well as the matching wines listing and it all sounds delightful.

To begin, we are brought a bubbling glass of Brut Rose which is a delightful start to the meal, It is beautiful and fresh, dry and slightly fruity.

To accompany this is our first course which consists of  Focaccia bread and ricotta, prosciutto and olives, soft cheese with tomatoes and olive oil and arancini balls.

Firstly, I have to say how stunning the olive oil was. I could have drunk it by the glass. Good olive oil is so different to supermarket olive oil, it's not even fair to compare them and I was dunking the beautiful focaccia into it with every mouthful of this smashing first course. The prosciutto (imported from Italy) and olives were a delight and the arancini as good as any you've ever tried. But for me the creamy, soft mozzarella style cheese with the spectacular olive oil and those gorgeous gems of perfectly in-season tomatoes really did it for me.

Next up, served with one of the most memorable Rieslings I've ever tried is our pasta dish. Dee mentions she is taken back by the squid-ink black. I have to admit, it is confronting. I found some interesting quotes on the psychology of colour and food.

“Colour is the single most important (...) sensory cue when it comes to setting people’s expectations regarding the likely taste and flavour of food and drink.”Charles Spence

‘Colour creates a psychological expectation for a certain flavour that is often impossible to dislodge.’

Harris G. in “Colorless food? We blanch.”
The New York Times 2011.https://forty8creates.com/colour-psychology-of-food-drink/

I have had squid ink pasta before, so fortunately I have very positive connotations of black pasta. The first thing we notice is the al-dente nature of the macaroni style pasta, something that I think can be a slight shock as I know I constantly overcook pasta as soft pasta is something I have become accustomed to. However I find the texture to be outstanding once I had gotten used to it. The next thing we notice is the wonderful savoury sausage flavour, it's delicious and an umami dream. The sauce is creamy from the cheese and I found this to just be heavenly. My only qualm was the little stab of fennel I got in one mouthful, but that's only because I have never gotten used to aniseed in savoury cooking, especially when I'm not expecting it.

PORK BELLY! Delicious twinning of wonderful salty pork flesh and porky fat topped with crispy, crunchy crackling. What's not to love? Served here with salsa verde and a wonderful vegetable with the flavour of broccoli in a leafy green. Baby, herbed potatoes and a simple green salad of lettuce and cucumber to cut through the heaviness. Something I discovered this season, the first that I have had a successful veg garden, is that lettuce has incredible flavour when freshy picked, it's really quite amazing.

By our last course, we are jovial, flushed rosy with delicious wine and have befriended Sarah who was really quite a spectacular server. Food and atmosphere are not the only things that make a meal memorable, the staff are an integral part and can make or break a meal.The dessert, of zabaglione a custard is served with a dense, moist cake crumble, poached pear and summer berries and the Iced Sauvignon Blanc, a sweet dessert wine is not only a beautiful paring, but is an exceptional wine full stop.As our meal concludes, Sarah invites us to try a wine tasting next door or feel free to wander about the grounds. As I feel we'd had just about the right amount of wine already we take a quick look around the restaurant grounds before being collected to go home.

This was a truly memorable meal and a fantastic addition to Southern Tasmania. I look forward to visiting seasonally to see how the menu changes and to witness such a pleasurable lunch again.

Osteria Vista

Stefano Lubiana Wines
60 Rowbottoms Road, Granton
03 62637457
hello@osteriavista.com.au

The Agrarian Kitchen Eatery Revisited

We drive from my house to our local town of New Norfolk. Snow has dusted the peaks. The main difference is the addition of my best friend Dizzle, who has blessed me with her presence on a visit from Brisbane. Another blessing: she is taking me on a belated birthday lunch to one of my favourite restaurants.

She has let me choose the venue, the wonderful Agrarian Kitchen Eatery. I first visited the year before for my birthday. I promise her it will be a lovely time. I think she trusts me.

The menu, as always is a set lunch menu. All food is locally sourced and/or grown or made on site. 

Dizz selects a local sparkling Rose. I say I am feeling like something tart and refreshing and without ado they make me a gin fizz cocktail.

Before long, our first, beautifully presented morsels arrive: Oyster sandwich, little potato cubes, fresh veg with an umtious mayo and the most pretty Danish you'll ever see.

turnip, kohrabi and burnt onion

Vegetables are garden fresh and the mayonnaise is velvety. 

Danish, broad bean flowers and cured egg

Buttery flaky pastry. Rich cured egg yolk.

potato, lamb salt and thyme | angasi oyster sandwich 

The oyster sandwich has a lovely tempura style oyster, mayo in white bread. There is a Japanese essence and something very comforting about this little mouthful. The potato is layer upon layer of paper-thin potato which I think was confit and was simple and elegant and went beautifully with a smear of mayo.

Next round is burrata, sourdough and cured cold cut made from the pig's head.

burrata and smoked paprika

Beautiful mild mozzarella style cheese with a cream filling.

coppa di testa, blood orange and parsley

The coppa di testa is beautiful, however I thought the dressing of blood orange was slightly too strong for the very delcate flabour of the meat. However the love and respect shown for this animal is clear.

kefir butter

I love when butter is presented as a work of art.

mushrooms, fermented parsnip and egg yolk

Our main plates are brought out one at a time, the mushroom and parsnip, broad beans and asparagus and pork, garlic and corn and initially we question this.
However we realise that each one of these dishes is exceptional. I've heard people express their love for in-season asparagus and thought to myself, how can someone love a vegetable so much. But now I know. Each one of these dishes could have been an amazing main by itself and it they all came out together I don't feel that I could have appreciated the perfection of each individual element on each plate.

broad beans, asparagus and hot sauce

braised pork, green garlic and corn

Rich, tender, juicy pork with an sumtuous fattiness. The corn was a bit surreal. It had been dried and then rehydrated and the texture was something else.

yoghurt and honey tart

Beautiful creamy tart with a sharp honey sauce.

coffee liqueur

elderflower pate de fruit

Jubes!

buttermilk gelato and rhubarb

Creamy, lovely finish to a gorgeous meal.

 

I just love the unpretentiousness of this restaurant, locally sourced, made with love fine dining.

This post is dedicated to my best friend, Carly (Dizzle)

New Norfolk Hotel: Pub Lunch

It was cold today. Cold and rainy, 8 degrees in fact. In tow, my gorgeous best friend from hot and sunny Queensland. 

We had been exploring the wonderful antique and homewares stores of New Norfolk when lunch time made itself aware. 

Miss Arthur Home Goods, Drill Hall Emporium

Carly suggested she felt like hot and hearty pub food and I mentioned the New Norfolk always looked packed at lunchtime and should we give it a go? She said yes.

We step inside and back in time to before pubs became gentrified. Classic. Country. Pub.

THEN

photo courtesy of newnorfolknews.com

NOW

photo courtesy of newnorfolk.org

There's no mood lighting or stainless steel here.  Keno screens on the wall next to the food menu, patterned carpet instead of polished concrete floors.  I love it.

As I had previously noticed, at 1.30pm Friday, there is a score of people jovially sat around tables with huge plates of hearty food in front of them.

We are daunted by the vast menu, but Carly opts for the lamb shank and I, after an internal battle, go for the daily special of surf and turf over the BBQ pork ribs. Both at $25. I go rare with chips and salad. While waiting for our meals,  I notice a serve of the ribs being taken to another table: they look spectacular and hope I didn't make a mistake.

courtesy of New Norfolk Hotel facebook page

After a very short time, our meals are brought to the table and both look excellent.

don't be fooled, that steak under the chips takes up half the plate

Carly indicates with gasps how falling-off-the-bone her lamb is. Also mentions the gravy is delicious.

I am impressed with the amount of prawns and the size and texture of them.

The chips are cooked and seasoned to perfection.  And the steak (rump) is tender, delicious and cooked exactly how it should be.  I order steak rare when I eat out owing to the fact that I find more often than not a medium-rare (my preference) is over-cooked to a medium or beyond. I do like a rare steak very much but medium-rare is my favourite. It is a nice piece of meat as well, advertised at 250g but I feel it may have been a bit bigger, well rested and delicious flavour. The white sauce is lovely and with the meal being the size it is, I didn't even have the room for a salad.

This is exactly the kind of pub you need on those nights that you can't be bothered cooking or like us, when you are in need of a big hearty meal.

Thank you New Norfolk Hotel, you did a cracking job.

edit 10/11/21. I went back last night with a group of 6, 5 of the meals were very warmly received,  however I had to send my med-rare t-bone back.  It was not even a cm thick and was grey as in, cooked to leather well done.  The girls at the counter looked at the steak and happily replaced it, however the replacement was not much better.  At $36 I find this unacceptable. I will be returning, however will not be ordering steak again.  

New Norfolk Hotel

79 High St, New Norfolk TAS 7140

https://www.newnorfolkhotel.net.au/

Pauly's Pizza New Norfolk

I did a Google search of our local pizza place, Pauly's Pizza and discovered two interesting things: firstly in 2020, Pauly's won best pizza in Hobart. Impressive, no? The other wonderful thing I discovered was an amazing dude who goes by the name of Tas Daz Down Under. Tas Daz is a Tasmanian chap who I assume lives not far from me and does YouTube food reviews.

Courtesy of New Norfolk and Derwent Valley News:

Tas Daz, who was featured in the article, rated Pauly's very highly (he goes on to review several of Pauly's Pizzas). I think he's hilarious and also a metal head for bonus points. I also love that he reviews local restaurants. Not just fancy schmancy ones (like a certain blogger *loosens collar*) and it has inspired me. Now that I live in the small community of the Derwent Valley I want to support local and if my blog gets another customer through the door of a locally owned business than it will have been worth it, and thank you Tas Daz, as you have gotten me through two doors already and more to follow. (Burger review coming soon).

I'm going to link his video below, however be careful, I started watching and ended up still watching four hours later.

Pauly's Pizza - Lamb Souvlaki & Mega Meat Lover's Pizzas : Tas Daz Down Under

Let's get down to business... Pizza business!

So Gudge and I make the drive into New Norfolk to try a couple of Pauly's Pizzas.

It's very handy that they have the pizza sizes on the front windows, and with eyes as big as our stomachs we decide on a family each. I go for a Supreme (bacon, onion, pineapple, capsicum, mushroom, cheese) and Gudge opts for a Pepperoni (salami, pepperoni, capsicum, cheese) at $18 each or 2 for $35).

The store is clean, anything-but-fancy, however the staff are lovely and attentive. We place our order and are told it will be around fifteen minutes so go for a little wander through New Norfolk.

On our return an older gentleman is leaving the restaurant and holds the door for me. "Thank you, enjoy your pizza" I remark, "I will, and you will too, trust me" he responds.

We collect the two heavy boxes and take them down to the park for Pizza Picnic.

...I hope we do

I start with a piece of my Supreme, the very large, very hefty Supreme. It is absolutely delightful. The base is excellent, great crunch on the bottom and crust. Fantastic amount of toppings, and perfect balance of flavour. Overall a very excellent pizza.

I also try Gudge's Pepperoni. All the fantastic elements of mine with the punchy, spicy flavour of cured sausage.

It's so big it doesn't fit into a photo!

Okay, so I love Pauly's Pizza. They're not trying to be anything else, they're just doing pizza the way Domino's wishes it could do pizza and I enjoyed it a lot.

We have almost a whole pizza for leftovers (edit, I ate a cold piece while writing this and it was STILL amazing) so I think these are great value for money. Judging by the amount of people in the store early evening Wednesday, I believe Pauly's has proven themselves to the local community and has an obvious following. I applaud their award of Best Pizza and can certainly say these are the best pizzas I have had in some time.

Address: 34A Burnett St, New Norfolk TAS 7140

Phone: 1800 728 597

Bushy Park Roadhouse Burger

So, you know there's those times you just want a burger reminiscent of those your parents used to get you as a kid? Or is that just me?

I have lovely memories of a accompanying my parents to a market or auction and after being very good, getting to share a burger.

This is not your gourmet $25 burger that has become the norm and don't get me wrong, there is a very special place in my heart for a gourmet burger, however sometime I just want a burger a plain old burger.

Our local store, post office (where we collect our mail) and petrol is the Bushy Park Roadhouse and the girls there have just been so welcoming to us since we've moved here, they are the heart of the community they also go a great little take away and today I just felt like a good old burger.

photo courtesy of realestate.com.au

I order a burger with the lot and a small chips.

Although the burger has been in the warmer is still tastes lovely and fresh. I like the way that the burger bun gets soft almost line a bao when it's been in a warmer for a bit. The 'lot' includes a beef patty, cheese, bacon,. egg and BBQ (or tomato as an option) sauce but no salad. It's just... good! It made me very happy. I had the option of chicken salt on my epic crinkle cut chips and I happily took that option. These chips are perfect, just perfect. I had these sitting out on my patio as it the first day of spring and the weather was wonderful.

The craziest part... old fashioned prices... burg and chips, 11.50!

Nice to have a good takeaway so close to home.

Bushy Park Roadhouse

525 Gordon River Rd, Bushy Park TAS 7140

take a left at this sign and head about 500m down the road