Tasmania’s The Agrarian Kitchen wins restaurant of the year award

Tasmania’s The Agrarian Kitchen is Gourmet Traveller’s restaurant of the year. The win is Tasmania’s first gong in this category in 45 years.

The Agrarian Kitchen is in the Derwent Valley in New Norfolk and was once the grounds of a psychiatric hospital.

The restaurant takes a hyper-seasonal farm-to-table approach to its dining experience; ingredients are sourced from the garden and local surrounds, and charcuterie, cheeses and ferments made onsite.

The Monday night ceremony in Sydney left co-founder Séverine Demanet in shock.

“We didn’t expect this at all,” she said.

Demanet and her husband, executive chef Rodney Dunn, established the Agrarian Kitchen in 2008. Over the years, it has evolved into a regional restaurant, kiosk, garden, and cooking school.

Dunn was also shocked. “I thought, how can a little Tassie restaurant win Gourmet Traveller restaurant of the year?” he said.

Demanet paid tribute to the industry as a whole in the win.

“I think any restaurant that is actually still around now, hats off to all of them, because it’s really tough at the moment.”

The sentiment was mirrored by Joanna Hunkin, editor of Gourmet Traveller, who said cost of living pressures were impacting restaurants.

 “They don’t give you a free pass, they hold you to a higher standard,” she said of customers’ current attitudes to dining.

Other winners include chef Mischa Tropp, who was named best new talent for debut Keralan restaurant Toddy Shop in Melbourne.

“I sling curries rather than win awards,” joked Tropp who has been operating since last year.

Tropp is catering to a growing appetite for regional Indian cuisine beyond butter chicken and naan.

“The majority of the public when they think of Indian food, they want two things: butter chicken and naan … and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, “there’s an older generation that probably knows south Indian food because they were hippies once,” he said.

Adelaide's Parwana Afghan Kitchen, founded in 2009 by the Ayubi family, has been recognised with the prestigious outstanding contribution to hospitality award. The family, who fled Kabul during the height of the Cold War in 1985, has transformed Parwana into a vibrant culinary hub celebrating the rich flavours of Afghanistan.

Led by visionary matriarch Farida, Parwana's colourful, tiled interior offers a taste of home through its authentic menu featuring kabuli palaw, bolani, and other traditional Afghan dishes. Beyond serving delicious food, the restaurant is committed to giving back to its homeland, hosting fundraisers for charities in Afghanistan.

Accepting the award, Farida's daughter Durkhanai explained, "When my parents made the difficult decision to leave everything behind, food became our anchor, our sense of home."

She emphasised that through their culinary journey, the family aimed to challenge the prevailing narratives of war and suffering associated with Afghanistan, offering a more hopeful and inspiring perspective.

Jonathan Jackon, 22^nd August 2024