LOCATIONIn Sorell, a 25-minute drive to the north-east of Hobart.
PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAThe Sorell Providore is a delightfully cheery, modern makeover of what used to be a main street cafe and ice-cream parlour. A wonderful selection of single malt whiskies, magnums of old Granges and vintage Hill of Graces are the tempting highlights of a very good selection of wines that sits on one side of the entrance. A bright and well-stocked deli and kitchen sit on the other. Towards the rear, scattered cafe tables spill out to a paved and pebbled courtyard where you can sit under a spreading old chestnut tree. The chef is Marlene Gooding, who made her name with the excellent, sometimes Polish-accented, dishes and game she served for many years at Sorell’s Blue Bell Inn.
Her terrines, gravlax, rillettes, pickles, relishes and salads are on offer through the deli and appear in the large selection of open sandwiches and tasting platters which, along with four hot dishes, make up the lunch menu. At dinner she gets a little more adventurous with dishes like smoked quail with ginger butter sauce, venison kotley, a delicious zucchini and goat’s cheese souffle, Middle Eastern lamb fillets and a succulent, rare duck breast with lovely crisped skin, its richness memorably offset against a coarse carrot puree spiked with brandied cumquats. There’s an adequate list of wines by the glass or you can choose a bottle from the retail section and have it brought to your table for a very reasonable $10 corkage.
Graeme Phillips, April 2010