Ethos Eat Drink has a simple belief; food tastes that much better when you know the lengths taken to get it on your plate. It mirrors the behaviour of many of the World's 50 Best, with owner and Executive Chef Iain Todd designing the day's menu using fresh local ingredients sourced on the day from a handful of artisan suppliers. Every dish placed in front of you has been carefully crafted with the story of the produce and provenance shared, and the reward is most definitely worth the effort.
The biggest show off is the large industrial vibe space, with the oldest part of the building was constructed around 1820 and still intact is Tasmania's oldest plumbed toilet! Another to boast is the charming garden in the courtyard, growing herbs and other edible plants they use on a daily basis. My favourite though is the giant sparkling chandelier hanging in the centre made from recycled glass bottles. There's to be prideful about when guests dine in a 190+ year old space, eat food from sources of integrity and experience something that is truly an unique expression of Tasmania.
The menu, much like the space and friendly staff, was far from complicated. Only the 'surprise' set menu is offered for dinner, so you only have to decide whether you'd like six or eight courses, and if you'd like them to match wine to your courses or select from their wine list. We went all out and decided eight courses and picked a 2013 Clarence House Estate Pinot Blanc from Cambridge, Tasmania ($36 for a carafe) and the rest was up to them.
That production line though
The pre-starters for the night were potato gratin (top) and quail eggs (bottom). The gratin was layers of thinly sliced potato with a cheese/sauce, topped with nori and salt. The quail eggs sat on top of fresh goats(?) cheese and charcoal leek ash. The latter was the preferred choice, with the cheese alone being a standout. Never have I ever had cheese so FRESH before, a distinct taste but not too strong. The ash added a pretty element but no real taste.
Our first course was leek, black garlic, king george whiting, corn, bean and diakon. The leek on its own was buttery, and the layered textured paired well with the raw slippery whiting. The black garlic added a caramelised taste.
Part of the extra two courses was the charcuterie board, with 4 types of pork and 2 types of lamb from different cuts of the animal, all aged and cured with various techniques and lengths of time. Condiments (mustard), house made pickled onions and daikon accompanied it. I loved the lamb, which had a really strong smell that would turn a lot of people off, but just a small stripped packed so much punch. It is MEATY with the strips of fat slowly melting in your mouth as the umami flavour deepens - carnivore heaven tbh.
I get so giddy as one dish comes after the other, and this one was an interesting to look at kingfish with lemon, buttermilk, lovage and chives. The solid cuts of kingfish were served raw, heightened by the tangy buttermilk. The lovage had a taste similar to celery that worked together with the onion flavour of chives. Though not a crowd favourite, it was an interesting and refreshing dish.
You all know I'm all about carbs. We saw fresh loaves of bread by front of house when we got in and wondered if we were going to be served any, and was THIS close to asking before they told us they were bringing out the house churned butter with house baked rye next. Smiles all around ^_^! The butter has got to be one of the best I've tasted - must be that Tasmanian milk! It's creamy but still very light, almost air-like that I could lick off the knife like icing. I'm usually not a big fan of rye as it can be quite dense, but this was soft and fluffy still, and was key for the next dish...
Taste buds get real now for this dish: asparagus, sesame, thyme and sabayon. There were two types of asparagus used for this dish; one the grows closer to water so it has a saltier taste, and the other inland to give a earthy contrast. The sabayon was an egg-based creamy mixture, with a custard-like texture and a tangy taste of mayo. Have never tasted anything that I could compare it to, but it was outstanding, especially with the bread to mop up! FYI we got more slices of bread :3
Finally, a meat dish! First thing first, that magenta spreen is SO DAMN PRETTY! Just look at the flecks of purple on the plate! Though the serving seemed quite small, we were surprisingly getting full by this stage but can never say no to crackling. A perfectly slow cooked piece of pork belly with a crispy cut of crackling, delicious deep fried cauliflower, and subtle jelly cubes of apple. Impeccable to fault.
The second part of the extra dish to our eight course meal was cheese (!!!). Chelle is not a picky eater, but the one thing she requested that night was to have cheese and who am I to say no to cheese hehe. We thought it would be similar to the charcuterie and be a board of cheese, but sadly it was just a wedge. Today's choice was a Flower Bay of Fires 18 month old cheddar with poached pear and muesli. The cheddar itself was quite mild, but surprisingly the sweetness of the poached pear heightened the strong flavour you usually get with cheddar.
I really enjoy the sort of pre dessert palate cleansers you get with a full degustation meal. For tonight we had whipped parsnip cream with coffee and it was HANDS DOWN, FAVOURITE OF THE NIGHT. It looked so simple and I'm not even sure what parsnip tastes like tbh but the lightly whipped cream had a mild sweet flavour, with this tastefully bitter coffee syrup thing? I DON'T EVEN KNOW, JUST TRUST ME ON THIS. Low key still dream about this :'(...
First (yes, there was more than one) dessert for the night was elderflower and rice bubbles. The elderflower cordial had been sitting for months to develop a very rich sweetness to it. The airy elderflower foam contrasted nicely with the toasted rice bubbles and reminded me of a dessert soup. Everything after that pre-dessert seemed not as exciting tbh, but still a stand up memorable dessert
Very different from the first; this was fig leaf creme patisserie, house made puff pastry, almonds and lemon. The creme patisserie was so silky smooth, with this gorgeous light fruity taste to it so wasn't too heavy to end the courses. The puff pastry was a bit hard for me, but had this subtle honey taste to it that reminded me of baklava, especially with the almonds that were done three ways (honied, toasted and raw).
Big cheers to the awesome team at Ethos Eat Drink who took care of us all night. We were running late but they were so chilled about it and each dish was well timed after one another, unlike those exhausting 3 hour meals - especially great when you've had an early morning flight and a whole day of exploring. The dishes were presented beautifully, with the story and origin of every produce explained by the floor staff who had better memory than I could dream of.
The total price was on the higher end for Hobart, but expected nothing less for the genuine care and effort that was put in. A more than worthwhile experience and fulfilling to know we were supporting a restaurant and a chef, as well as local farmers and growers, with high sustainable practices, while still being delivered a five star meal and service. Amazing to see restaurants like this happening in Australia, truly hope to see more follow suit.