Hobart’s New Restaurant Maria Puts Mediterranean Glamour on a Plate

The island state meets the Greek isles at this glamorous newcomer.

Back when chef Christian Ryan was dreaming about his next venture, his mind was set on opening a “small wine bar”. But fate had other plans for the co-owner of Aloft restaurant on the Hobart waterfront. After hearing that the space downstairs was available – about twice the size of Aloft and with the same smoky-blue views across the Derwent – Ryan and his business partner realised that lightning rarely strikes twice.

The original idea was parked but not the thought behind it. Restaurant Maria takes wine bar touchpoints – share plates, a concise Tassie and Euro wine list – then executes them on a grander scale. The cuisine is also a hybrid in the best possible way; broadly Mediterranean (“We’re calling it ‘Lisbon to Lebanon’”) but with punchier flavours than you might find at traditional Portuguese or Greek restaurants and with a Tasmanian edge. Expect taramasalata made with local fish roe and prawns flavoured with native pepperberry. Ryan and his team spent the summer collecting wild fennel pollen – a common Mediterranean ingredient which will find its way into a mignonette for Tassie oysters. “And I think we might be the first people to do a wallaby giros,” he adds.

The ingredients may lean local but the vibe is intended to transport you. Soft curves, linens, Venetian plaster and a Mid-century Modern drinks trolley all speak to another hemisphere and a bygone era. “I want it to feel like you’ve gone on holiday to the Amalfi Coast or the Greek Islands in the ’60s, back when it took two days to get to the other side of the world. I want that romance and nostalgia.”

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