Institut Polaire

Institut Polaire embraces Hobart as a gateway to Antarctica. The wine bar is right near where expedition ships set off for the icy land. But the polar express would be wise to delay departure time for the sake of this wine bar. It’s by wife-and-husband duo Louise Radman (who worked at London’s River Cafe and Paris’s Willi’s Wine Bar) and Nav Singh. The pair moved to Tasmania to make cool-climate wines, and started their label Domaine Simha.

At Institut Polaire, they pay homage to Tasmania’s cold-climate terroir through clean white lines, grey leather seating and cool marble benchtops. The dining room is lit by glacial pendant lights from pre-eminent British designer Tom Dixon.

Start with snacks like local oysters with elderflower mignonette, a fried focaccia finger topped with whipped cod roe and shaved bottarga, or Wagyu tartare. You can add a caviar bump with vodka by Radman and Singh’s own Sud Polaire, or push the boat out with the full caviar service. For mains, order Cape Grim beef with mustard and the team’s own Polaire sauce, or cacio e pepe spiked with shaved Tasmanian truffle. Locals in the know return for the katsu sando, which only appears on certain days. And for the dessert, it’s got to be the delicate Paris-Brest filled with swirly columns of hazelnut praline crème.

To drink, there’s the signature icy Antarctic Dry Martini, which uses Sud Polaire micro-batch gin, along with Southern Ocean kombu, local mountain pepper and juniper. To sample their wine, try the Domaine Simha Rama pinot. Plus, there are alc-free options for teetotallers to explore.