REVIEW
You could argue that Fico is the quintessential, box-ticking Hobart restaurant: a chef-run 40-seater in a dark-hued historic building, driven by produce and fond of listing local wines alongside the great and the funky European hits. Yet this is a place that dodges categorisation, to the point where chef and co-owner Federica Andrisani regularly works the floor as opposed to the pans. That desire to mix things up is embedded in the restaurant's DNA and the reason there's a waiting list to experience the 10-ish course dégustation. It's there in toasted rice arancini stuffed with 'nduja and sublime Tongola goat's cheese panna cotta served with glistening onion jus. And in cross-cultural mashups like a cleanly flavoured corn and zucchini tart that's more like a tostada, or white chocolate and yuzu sorbet with fig leaves and tangy hibiscus powder. More than anything, Fico is unfailingly itself – and perhaps more essential than quintessential as a result.
ABOUT
Chefs Federica Andrisani and Oskar Rossi
Price guide $$$
Bookings Essential
Wheelchair access No
Open Lunch Sun; Dinner Thu-Sat
Price guide $$$
Bookings Essential
Wheelchair access No
Open Lunch Sun; Dinner Thu-Sat
This review was written independently for the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide. The guide's reviewers visit unannounced and pay their way. To learn more about the process, head over here.
