Providore by Ethos

A bright, open space, walls decked out with jars of preserves, the most delicious selection of serve-yourself salads and baked treats, delicious coffee and warm staff. Nestled between their three other eateries (Ethos Eat Drink, Vita: Nature + Culture, and Ash & Besters) Providore has mastered all of these things and more.

The cafe/salad bar boasts an aesthetically beautiful space with plenty of seating to choose from, as well as an array of unique, seasonal foods that has been carefully crafted by their team of highly talented chefs. With an emphasis on local, seasonal produce, their food- no matter how inventive- always heroes the beautiful produce that Tasmania has to offer.

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Deliciously fluffy doughnuts // One topped with a beautifully light coffee cream, the other with a sweet, caramel icing, caramel popcorn and chocolate crumb. 

Choose from window, couch, or table seating. 

Lots of the little details which contribute to making this place feel all the more homey will actually have tiny little price tags on them, saying they are yours to keep if you want them!

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Small Fry

This is my very first (soon to be!) published article which I wrote for Issue 2 of Aphra Magazine, with some snazzy images by Jack Short.

** Disclaimer: The contents of this blog post belongs to Aphra Magazine. **

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Stepping into Small Fry is like rocking up to your best mate’s house. Enter without knocking, help yourself to a seat at the kitchen bench, then chat away to the chef as he manoeuvres his way around the kitchen impressively- chopping, frying, assembling whatever meal you fancy from his inventive menu. Only in this case, your best mate is Rhys Hannen. The cruisy foodie artisan whose love and passion for cooking is contagious. 

After he greets me with a “Hey what’s crackin’?” and we small talk our way through the events of our day, I sit down, order a soy latte, and ask Rhys how it all began.

“I realised pretty early on in my apprenticeship that the guys who were cooking were always working really, really hard for what seemed like not a justifiable amount of money. I realised if I was going to be working that hard I wanted to be right at the top, reaping the most benefit- be that monetary or non monetary.” He laughs, “I can assure you I’m not in this for the fucking money”.

Small Fry is the super popular, super trendy result of fifteen years in the making. After wrapping up his apprenticeship under Don Cameron at Stillwater- a contemporary fusion-style restaurant with the accolades “Best Tasmanian Restaurant” and “Best Contemporary Australian Restaurant”, Rhys ventured out of the country…

“I promptly buggered off overseas. I worked in the U.S., Canada, England, France and Scotland over a couple of years. I worked as broadly as I could. ”

With chef whites in hand, an array of new skills, and a whole lot of passion, Rhys returned to Tasmania to complete a business degree and gain further experience in some of the state’s top-notch restaurants, including The Mudbar and The Agrarian Kitchen. Then one day the opportunity for him to turn the vision in his head into a real-life vision in Hobart was staring him right in the face.

Small Fry’s layout is genius, with every nook of space cleverly fulfilling its potential. Smack bang in the centre is a massive charcoal grey, marble bench. One side is Rhys’s workspace; the other is where the guests sit, eat, and watch. It is also a showcase for scrumptiously baked treats, including the incredible donuts this place is so famous for. Seeing Rhys at work it like observing some kind of martial art. The waving around of knives, ingredients, and frying pans as he proudly shares the knowledge, stories and techniques behind his food is all part of the experience. I ask him where the brilliant idea of a Chef’s Table came from.

“I was working in London in a kitchen, and myself and the other chefs worked at a table that was round the side and we had sections and all that stuff. I’d pull everything off the stove and that’d be the start of the plate. Then it’d go to the next chef and he’d put it on a bloody white tray and then a bow-tied, Polish waiter would wonder five-hundred metres from the restaurant and blah, blah, blah. There was all this faff! And that’s all cool but I was just standing there at one point and I’m like, Why don’t they just sit right fucking there? Because people love it, and it would cut out a whole bunch of stuff. So I’m just like yep, we should just have a bench and cook on one side and have the customers eating on the other and it’ll be great!”

“I was really lucky that the timing and cost etc. was right for this place, 'cause all of a sudden this idea that I had was right there and really accessible. I didn’t have to spend shitloads on a fit-out; I didn’t have to find joint metal workers. I just had to walk in, move some stuff around and start cooking… so that’s when I was like, Alright, I’m not gonna die wondering whether I can do this. Now’s the time.”

After training in a bunch of fusion-style restaurants, Rhys has always been exposed to “something-something with a twist”. But he’s getting over that. When I ask him to describe the concept behind his food he proudly explains,

“I really like classic, technique-driven, simple food. But the thing I try to impress upon anybody is that simple has to be perfect. It has to be perfect or at least as close to bloody perfect as you can get. Because once ‘simple’ starts to become like ‘rustic’ or ‘traditional’ or something like that I always read that as code for lazy, or that they don’t know any better.”

He pulls out a cardboard box and places a small lemon friand inside. As he artfully forms the perfect quenelle of double cream to accompany it, he says,

“This is a classic example. This is a friand- it’s like, almond meal and castor sugar. It’s really nothing. But we always try to cook them properly; we try and get that balance between the chewy outside and the soft exterior, and some crunch on top with the toasted almonds. We always garnish it with some syrup that’ll soak through and add dimension, and [add] some cream on the other side cause that’s texture and flavour as well.

So that is so simple. But it’s thinking about the details like that that 95% of people don’t do, and that will set you apart.”

 So we try to be simple, try to be technique driven, and we try to pay attention to detail.”

This ethos of “simple but perfect” is evident in every single one of his dishes- from the humble little friand, to the more extravagant (but apparently still simple) earl grey crème with mulled wine poached pears, gingerbread crumb, ganache and candied violet dish I had ordered earlier that day. So I ask him what his best seller is, secretly confident that I know what the answer will be…

He laughs, “The doughnuts.”  No surprises there.

I ask, “Was that the plan?”

“No” he sighs, “They were my girlfriend’s little grand child, that’s her business there.”

Simultaneous with the recent opening of Small Fry came a flood of the most amazing looking doughnuts in my Instagram feed- lemon meringue flavour, apple crumble, turkish delight, dulce de leche, you name it. But getting your hands on one was another story. To this day some are left wondering whether Small Fry’s so-called “amazing” doughnuts actually exist. They are a consistent sell-out by early hours of the day, so you’ve got to be quick. As a friend of mine put it, they’re the Snuffleupagus of fast food.

But, if Small Fry’s reputation as the place to get awesome-as doughnuts draws people to Rhys’s restaurant, he’s not complaining.

Wrapping up my chat and my latte, I ask Rhys one final and important question: What is the best way to enjoy a doughnut?

He laughs, “Stuff it in your face, that’s my answer. Just eat it. Don’t analyse it. Just eat it and enjoy it. That’s the best way to do it.”

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Buckwheat Banana Bread Granola

Granola has always been one of my favourite foods. Growing up in the hot climate of Perth, my all time favourite treat would be a bowl of granola topped with vanilla yoghurt, nuts, and fresh fruit.

While the crisp winters of Tassie leave me craving comfort food 70% of the year, as soon as the September sun comes out I head straight to the local supermarket to grab the freshest, most delicious fruits I can find. On this particular trip down to Hill Street Grocer I was inspired by some beautiful tropical fruits... oh, and the flowers I picked along the way!

Now, buckwheat is not the most exciting of ingredients, I'm not going to lie. So what's all the fuss about? While it's taste is probably less exciting than a bowl of dried up grass, it's crunchy texture goes deliciously with any mixture of nuts, grains and fruit. Buckwheat is also high in fibre, gluten free, and full of antioxidants. Hence why I was inspired to incorporate it into my granola recipe...

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Ingredients :

1 cup of oats

1 cup of buckwheat

2 tablespoons of chia seeds

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

half a cup of raw walnuts

half a cup of raw hazelnuts

1 mashed banana

1/4 cup natural peanut butter

2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil

2 tablespoons of honey, or agave nectar

seeds scraped from half a vanilla bean 

(alternatively, you could just use a teaspoon of vanilla extract)

Method:

The method is ridiculously easy. Firstly, pr-heat your oven to 180 degrees celsius. 

Then, you simply mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl, all the wet ingredients in another, and then combine the two. 

Spread the mixture onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for about 10 minutes, turning the mixture halfway through (this roasts the nuts nice and evenly).

Leave the mixture to cool before breaking it into rough clusters. You can store this in a jar or airtight container for about a week. 

Serve with whatever milk/yoghurt/fruit/nuts/flowers you desire! 

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Lemon Tart

For the Shortcrust Pastry:                                                  For the Lemon Filling:

180 grams of unsalted butter                                                        Six eggs

240 grams of plain flour                                                  250 grams of castor sugar

A pinch of salt                                                        The grated zest and juice of three lemon

1/4 cup of icy cold water                                                          200ml cream

Two teaspoons of baking powder                                      Icing sugar, for dusting

Method:

For the pastry, place flour, salt and butter on a clean, cold bench. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour to create a breadcrumb-like consistency. Create a well in the centre of the mixture and pour in the water. Still using your fingertips, form the mixture into a dough. Be sure not to overwork it, as this will create a tough dough and change the texture of the pastry. 

Glad wrap the dough and place into the fridge for half an hour.

Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees celsius. After refrigerating, roll out the dough and place into a lightly greased tart dish, trimming the edges. Bake blind for 20 minutes. 

Reduce the temperature of the oven to 160 degrees celsius. Then, combine the eggs and sugar before adding the zest and juice. Lastly, add the cream and mix well before pouring into the pastry case and baking for a further 35-45 minutes or until set. 

Leave to cool and serve with a dusting of icing sugar and a spoonful of cream. 

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Hobart Mornings: Pollen Tea Room

We took a stroll through the quaint little suburb of Battery Point, where the Georgian-style houses, flourishing gardens and bakeries lie.

Nestled within this gorgeous suburb is The Pollen Tea Room. With its petit charm and delightful atmosphere,  the earthy tones of the Tea Room's interior match perfectly with the display of their very own range of teas and crockery. Their menu is boasting in wholesome, seasonal, but most of all delicious food and beverages. Most of which are gluten and dairy free; all of which are made in their very own kitchen. 

Sit by the window with a warm cup of chocolate chai, a pot of house-made tea, or an almond milk latte- sipping as you watch the happenings of Hampden Road go by. 

Alternatively, order yourself a deliciously wholesome breakfast or one of the treats on display... I have to say, their "power balls" look like they contain the ability within them to make you conquer the world. It would be hard to go wrong with one of them.

This was my breakfast of banana bread granola, activated buckwheat, and house-made coconut yoghurt, alongside Robbie's breakfast of baked eggs with avocado, dukkah, fresh coriander, and sourdough. What better way to start a sunny Saturday in Hobart?

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Rhubarb and Custard Tea Cake

With a healthy looking bunch of rhubarb growing in our garden and the memories of myself as a little girl chopping it into chunks for my dad's stewed rhubarb and ice cream, I was inspired to make this cake.

For the Cake:                                                           For the Custard:

200 grams of butter                                                Two tbsp of custard powder

110 grams of brown sugar                                                  1/4 cup of caster sugar

Two eggs                                                                 1 cup of milk

1 1/4 cups of Plain Flour                                             1 tablespoon of butter

Two teaspoons of baking powder                           Two teaspoons of vanilla extract

                                1/3 cup of custard powder

                                Two fresh rhubarb stalks

                                  Sugar, for sprinkling

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. 

For the custard, mix the custard powder and sugar with a small amount of the milk to make a smooth paste. Ensuring there are no lumps, add the paste and the rest of the milk to a saucepan and cook over a medium heat until thickened. Removing the saucepan from the heat, mix in the butter and vanilla extract.

For the cake, cream the butter and sugar until light- both in colour and in texture. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and add the flour and custard powder. The batter will be quite thick. 

To assemble the cake, put half the cake mixture into a round, greased cake tin; pour on the custard, and then place the rest of the mixture on top. Cut the fresh rhubarb stalks into roughly four centimetre lengths, and then cut in half lengthways. Arrange the rhubarb onto the cake as shown in the above picture, and sprinkle the brown sugar on top. 

Place into the oven and cook for roughly an hour, or until golden and cooked through. 

Enjoy! 

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A Trip to Mount Field

Only at a place like Mount Field can you wake up warm and cosy in your sleeping bag before stepping out onto the cold, wooden floor and quickly covering yourself in as many layers as you can find. All before looking out a tiny, fogged-up window to see that overnight, a layer of crisp, white snow covered the frozen lake and trees.

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Sometimes it is very nice to know that today, your only responsibilities include breathing in the fresh air, exploring the lakes and the mountains, and ensuring that fire keeps on burning.

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Dessert Wine and Vanilla Bean Poached Pears

With winter comes two of my favourite things: spices and warm fruit. 

While this recipe is simply four ingredients, it can easily be altered to suit the longings of your taste buds. The wine may be substituted for chai tea, the pears may be subsituted for apples or quince. You could add cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, honey; go crazy.

Here is my take on Poached Pear, with a little help from Donna Hay. 

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Ingredients:

Four Pears, peeled and sliced in two

1 1/2 cups of castor sugar

One vanilla bean

1 1/2 cups of white dessert wine

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. 

Place the halved pears in a baking tray large enough for them to fit nicely. Add the dessert wine and sugar. Then, slice the vanilla bean lengthways down the centre, scrape out the seeds with a knife and add them to the pears and wine. 

Cover the baking tray with aluminium foil and place into the oven for approximately an hour and a half. 

Enjoy warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or double cream and syrup from the baking tray.

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Four Reasons why this Blog Exists

Firstly,

My Family and Friends. So cliché, but so true. For years I've had the idea of starting a blog, but my tendency towards perfectionism has allowed to me to procrastinate and procrastinate. The thought of it not being exactly the way I wanted it to be scared me, but I now know- thanks to some extremely wonderful people in my life- that with projects like this, you simply have to start. So that is exactly what I'm doing. 

Secondly,

I LOVE Hobart. Predominately the food, but the icing sugar-dusted mountain, colourful markets, blossoming flowers and old houses that look like something out of a storybook are pretty decent too. I want people to fall in love with Hobart the way I have, so this blog will be filled with all my most favourite places to visit and eat. 

Thirdly,

I also love cooking, fashion, interior design, lovely gardens, and architecture. So expect to see a lot of that too. 

Finally,

I'm a Journalist in training. When I started my Bachelor of Arts at Utas I wanted the best of both worlds- to become a qualified teacher (the long way), and to stay in beautiful Hobart. While I am only half-way through my degree and even further away from being 100% set on what I want to do at the end of all this, the combination of creativity + career is looking mighty appealing, and the idea of journalism is slowly stealing my heart. So why does this blog exist, you ask? It's my landfill, journal, photo album, recipe book, and portfolio, all mushed into one.