After a couple of hours spent in Restaurant Maria, with 1960s’ lounge music in the background, Mediterranean cuisine in the foreground and rough-rendered walls reminiscent of an Italian villa, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton circa 1962 tumble through the door, trying to escape the paparazzi that had been hounding them while they filmed Cleopatra and embarked on a torrid affair.
They do not make an appearance but Maria’s air of subtle, summertime glamour certainly makes it feel possible. The food here spans the Med from Spain to Lebanon, but there are distinctive Tasmanian influences throughout thanks to local produce and native ingredients. The set menu has been carefully curated, but staff are happy to accommodate dietary requirements (even last-minute) with options that are just as delicious as the originals. It’s this sort of astute service that’s in line with Aløft, Maria’s fine-dining sister restaurant, situated just upstairs.
We begin with a wonderfully oily piece of focaccia perfect for swiping up a creamy Tongola goat’s curd topped with salty olives and capers plus the crunch of toasted almonds. It also serves as a scoop for a wallaby tartare that sits atop a nutty macadamia hummus dusted with lemony sumac. Bruny Island oysters – meaty and briny – are topped with a mignonette scented with wild fennel pollen collected by the team over the summer and are a wonderful, anise-tinged mouthful from the sea.
Maria’s take on garlic bread is a cheese-stuffed pita that’s been pan-fried to crunchy goodness then smothered in fennel jam, local honeycomb and crowned with a fennel frond, flavours reminiscent of the Greek islands. The drinks list is just as Med-leaning as the food, with beer and wine offerings from Italy, Greece, Lebanon and Portugal – as well as Tasmania – on a short but interesting list.
The main course is a 14-hour slow-cooked lamb shoulder that falls off the bone at the lightest touch and sits in a pool of jus, which is begging to be swiped up with a piece of bread. Charred greens are crisp-tender and their mellow flavours are offset by a zingy green goddess dressing that’s vibrant and herby. Delicate white anchovies provide a subtle saltiness.
Chef Christian Ryan’s time in Athens, where he found an original yoghurt maker whose Greek yoghurt was so thick you could carve it into pieces, inspired a dessert of yoghurt-based panna cotta topped with honey and walnuts that tastes more sophisticated than its simple origins and ingredients would suggest.
Every dish here is a tribute to time-honoured traditions and tastes matched with impeccable local produce and outstanding service to create an experience that is greater than the sum of its parts.
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