LAUNCESTON RENAISSANCE INDUSTRY FEATURE
PICTURED: BAR STELO
Culinary offerings are popping up thick and fast across Launceston, revolutionising the city into a must visit destination for foodies T welve months ago, Tasmania’s second biggest city received global recognition by being named as the newest City of Gastronomy as part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. As one of just two cities in Australia on the list (joining Bendigo) and one of just 50 in the world, it placed the northern capital on both the national and international maps and made it an instant world-wide destination for culinary tourists. At the time the state’s borders were still shut but when they opened a few weeks later, the Spirit of Tasmania sold $1 million worth of tickets within just 24 hours, no doubt many of those visitors eager to make the one-hour drive from Devonport to experience why Launceston was bestowed with the honour. Fast forward a year and Launceston’s CBD dining renaissance is showing no signs of slowing down. A host of new ventures catering for a wide array of customers continue to emerge, with recent additions including Delicia Acai and Protein Bar, Midnight Rambler – an American-style speakeasy dive from Bar Two owner Nate Cairns – Caledonian Wine Vaults and Tenebris all
opening their doors in the past few months. Felix, an espresso/wine bar from the team behind Tinka Coffee Roasters will be ready to welcome customers in the New Year, while a similar concept is in the works by the Cabin Coffee crew for the former Franco’s Italian Restaurant. Another establishment which has hit the ground running since opening in late October is Bar Stelo, a trendy cocktail bar from Lauren and Nathan Johnson, the duo behind Stelo on Pierre’s. The Johnston’s have spent the past two years fitting out Bar Stelo, transforming it from a retail space which housed high-end fashion store Justin Paul to provide the perfect accompaniment for their high-flying restaurant which continues to go from strength to strength. “With the new addition of the courtyard, Pierre’s is now a 220-seat restaurant, which is something that has been interesting for us to get up to that capacity,” Lauren says. “We didn’t have a spot for a pre drink or a spot where a group of five or 10 can meet before they come into the table, because the bar in the restaurant is just so busy as a service bar. We really needed somewhere to help the flow into the restaurant so that we could sort of hold someone back for 10 or 15 minutes and offer them a spot to have a drink, or a drink afterwards. It’s really helped the whole flow of the restaurant and that’s why we opened it.
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Tasmanian Hospitality Review Dec/Jan Edition
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