Lucinda Wine Bar

123 Collins St
Hobart, TAS 7000
https://lucindawine.com/

Lucinda is an intimate little wine bar sitting in front of its high-profile older sibling, Dier Makr. The focus here is on high-quality, local ingredients. The menu consists of a handful of hyper-seasonal items, served cold more often than not, for snacking with their massive selection of wines. Despite its simplicity, every dish was remarkably compelling, and invariably made me want to lick the plate clean. Unfortunately the place was much too cosy for me to get away with doing that, so I settled for obnoxiously scraping the crockery with my knife instead.

The Highlights: local heirloom tomatoes, fig leaf ice cream.
Rating: 14.5/20 – sorry for ruining your crockery.

A glass of sweet vermouth goes down a treat, though I’ll admit to completely forgetting the name of this one.

Bread with Schmaltz ($5)

Love me some good bread, especially when it’s sourdough Bread with Schmaltz ($5). Think butter, but meltier and with a savoury meatiness.

Whipped Anchovy ($12)

The Whipped Anchovy ($12) is made taramasalata-style, blended with olive oil and breadcrumbs. It is so rich and umami that I could (and did) eat it with a spoon. Extra props to the parsley-infused oil and smoky-sweet charred peppers but the dip is definitely the star of this show.

Fennel Seed and Black Pepper Salami ($12)

Mild and sweet, with a satisfying meatiness.

Annette’s Tomatoes. Dill Cream. Dukkah ($14)

These babies were picked off a farm just 45 minutes from Hobart and HOO-WHEE, were they amazing. Digging into these was like grazing from a summer garden, and the crunch of dukkah, as well as warm dill-infused cream, was all that was needed to seal the deal.

Stripey Trumpeter ($29)

We smelt the Stripey Trumpeter ($29) before we saw it, and it certainly lived up to expectations. The fillets were firm and meaty with a deliciously crisp skin, whilst the blowtorched belly was charred and fatty. It comes with a whipped aioli saturated with lemon, and a paste of poached periwinkle – take your pick, it’s all good.

Fig Leaf Ice Cream ($9)

You’ve never had ice cream like the Fig Leaf Ice Cream ($9) before. The texture is like a cross between custard and sorbet, and there’s an unmistakable aftertaste of fig leaves and sap. A drizzle of bittersweet vermouth rounds it out, its medicinal quality mellowed as it is aged with beeswax.