This year’s Taste of Summer festival promises exciting new features, including innovative stall designs, vibrant site aesthetics, and 17 debuting vendors showcasing Tasmania’s finest food and drink. Taste Festival Curator Jo Cook takes us through the highlights of this iconic Hobart event.
Hobart News: What new additions can visitors expect at this year’s Taste of Summer?
Jo Cook (pictured below): Patrons can expect to see some exciting and innovative new additions across the curation, stall design, layout and offering at this year’s Taste of Summer, all implemented to enhance the patron experience for a great day out on the waterfront of nipaluna/Hobart.
Co-curator Khayla Massie has worked hard to curate an amazing selection of stalls for the PW1 forecourt, with patrons greeted upon entry by one of our new stallholders Season and Fire bringing the theatre of live cooking over fire to this part of the festival, alongside Strawbs and Cream by Sabina Newton offering fresh strawberries and cream from Hillwood Berries on kanamaluka/Tamar River, and distillers Forty Spotted Gin, and Hartz with a range of non-alcoholic options.
Taste of Summer site designer Rozina Suliman has introduced a vibrant new colour pallate, and we are thrilled to have local Hobart sign writer and landscape artist Martin Zarins hand painting our stallholder menus for an extra Tasmanian touch.
This year the Clover Hill Atrium sits closer to the waterfront to offer panoramic views of timtumili minanya/River Derwent, providing patrons with a front row seat to welcome in the summer fleets of the Sydney to Hobart, Melbourne to Hobart and Launceston to Hobart yacht races – which we know is always a highlight for the crowd!
As always, there will be fun activities spread across Salamanca lawns for families to enjoy, with our dedicated children’s play area ‘Little Hobart’ delivered in partnership with Hobart Airport.
HN: Are there any standout dishes or drinks debuting at the festival this year?
JC: Stallholder interest was the highest to date, and we are thrilled to be welcoming 17 new stallholders to Tasmania’s Taste of Summer this year.
Amongst them are Nectar Eater bringing their American style pies made with premium Tasmanian produce, that also happen to be vegan! I am especially looking forward to trying the lemon blueberry meringue pie, with buckwheat and almond biscuit crust, blueberry compote, lemon curd, elderflower meringue.
Sonnen Wines’ Chardonnay and Pinot Gris made at Pressing Wines Winery in the Coal River Valley are spectacular.
Local favourite Rude Boy will be debuting with fried oyster mushrooms made with Mr Brown & Towns mushrooms from Launceston served with lemon lemon myrtle furikake, miso caramel, zucchini pickles – yum!
Brothers Rabin and Nabin Sapkota from EKKA are returning to Taste of Summer this year with an absolutely delicious Nepalese goat curry and rice on their menu - masala marinated goat, tomato, onion, garlic and ginger gravy with goat sourced from farms across Tasmania by Vermey’s Quality Meats.
Queen Sheba Ethiopian will be debuting kurkufa - "Ethiopian gnocchi" spiced silverbeet aybe (spinach and feta) for the vegetarians, or lamb and spiced silverbeet for the meat lovers.
HN: Which local producers or chefs are you most excited to showcase this time around?
JC: As an island known globally for our fresh produce and talented chefs, we are absolutely spoilt for choice across Tasmania’s Taste of Summer. However I am particularly excited about Will Chapman’s stall Braised, serving Lamb and Ricotta Meatball Subs with melted Red Leicester Cheese from Ashgrove Farm.
Smoked by Lost Captain serving a smoked cheeseburger and Huon beef roll using Speckle Park Beef from Riverbank Farm in the Huon is also sure to be a hit with our patrons.
It will be terrific to welcome back Sabina Newton with Bass Strait Scallops, continuing the festival’s guest chef program showcasing indigenous quota abalone as well as crumbed scallops, fried pinkeye potatoes and tartare sauce.
HN: What are the must-try food and drink experiences for first-time attendees?
JC: Pizzirani’s Cucina is always a crowd favourite, not least of all because Nonna Dina Pizzirani now in her eighties, works tirelessly making fresh pasta at their family stall right throughout the festival! You cannot go past Nonna’s Bolognese & smoked cheddar spring roll, pickled peaches.
I highly recommend Mr Jian Bing and the guangbing (chinese bagel from Fuqing) cooked in a tandoor oven filled with pork belly & tofu. This is a Streetfood from Fuqing, that was new to me this year, and is absolutely delicious.
Tasmaniac Distillery located in the Clover Hill Atrium will be offering the Antarctic Negroni – the perfect alchemy of Antarctic aquavit, Punch & Ladle sweet vermouth, Osare bush bitter, for a wonderful aperitif.
Bánh mì N Grill ‘s signature bánh mì is always a hit - Vietnamese house-baked baguette, housemade pate, viet mayo, carrot pickles, cucumber, fresh herbs for an amazingly fresh take on this Vietnamese classic. Choose from charcoal grilled Scottsdale pork, pulled Cape-Grim beef brisket, or grilled Portobello mushroom.
HN: How does the festival engage with and give back to the local community?
JC: Tasmania’s Taste of Summer is a fun and family friendly celebration of our island’s food, drink, community and culture. It is also perfectly timed to welcome the tens of thousands of visitors to our city coinciding with the arrival of the Sydney to Hobart fleet and peak season for our visitor economy, a time when nipaluna/Hobart truly comes alive.
A Tasmanian icon and diverse and inclusive festival, Tasmania’s Taste of Summer engages with our local community and generates civic pride in a number of ways. We provide a safe and welcoming platform for our community to share their story of people and place through their culinary offerings and performing arts.
The Taste stage showcases an eclectic lineup of seasoned and emerging Tasmanian musicians, and every New Year’s Eve we bring an iconic Australian artist to bring excitement to our waterfront for visitors and locals alike – I am really looking forward to the Hoodoo Gurus live on stage this year.
We deliver significant economic impact for our region and create employment opportunities for locals. Our strict source and support local policy ensures fresh produce from right around the state is on show across the festival.
Our partnership with City of Hobart Community Day offering free entry across the site from 12pm-4pm on 31 December is another important way we give back to the local community by making Tasmania’s Taste of Summer accessible for all. This year we are looking forward to live performances from youth and community bands, and cultural performances as we celebrate the Community Day theme of ‘Hobart Respects All’.
HN: What are you personally most excited about for this year’s festival?
In no particular order…
- Eating all the delicious food (obviously).
- Dressing up in some 80’s rocked themed getup for Hoodoo Gurus live at Tasmania’s Taste of Summer on New Year’s Eve.
- Cheering on the waterfront as the yachts come in…iconic Hobart.
- Seeing our patrons’ reactions as they discover beautiful spaces to relax with food and drink around the festival.
- Being amongst everyone while they’re having a great time…it’s a vibe.
- Seeing the stallholders proudly serving their wares…doing what they do best!