K and I recently celebrated our second wedding anniversary with a quick weekend getaway to Launceston. I also celebrated by cracking what I still think is one of my funniest jokes – “Two down, two to go!”. Unfortunately not everyone gets my sense of humour…but my husband does, and he laughed at the joke. I guess that’s why we’re married!
I booked our anniversary dinner at Geronimo Aperitivo Bar & Restaurant, a new(ish) addition to the Launceston scene which first made its way onto my radar in an article published by Qantas. It was the description of the connections to the family farm that drew my attention. Would you find many other restaurant owners who would say “We are trying to create as stress-free an environment as possible where the animals can grow and be happy. I want my chefs to come out here and touch them because we want a relationship between producer, land and animal.”?
We were greeted, seated and presented with our menus by our friendly waitress who was just superb throughout the evening. She was helpful and friendly without being obtrusive, and was able to explain each dish to us well. We made up our minds fairly quickly about drinks – it was deciding on food that would prove to be more difficult. We started off our meal with a cocktail each.
K chose a Southside, a much fancier version of one of his go-to drinks of gin and tonic. Mixed with the tang of lemon and the freshness of mint, it was just the right drink for the uncharacteristically warm Tasmanian spring day.
Following my one single birthday drink at The Dispensary in Bendigo, I had the same drink at Geronimo – a refreshing Aperol Spritz. This version was much lighter than that at The Dispensary, indicating slightly less Aperol and slightly more Prosecco in the mix which suits me well.
We got some House-Baked Rolls to start, crusty and warm, perfect for dipping in the rich and full-bodied olive oil.
K had to order the Jamon and Manchego Brioche Toastie as soon as he saw it on the menu. It’s the type of dish we would eat when we were in Spain last year – just a simple ham and cheese toastie, but amplified and made a million times more delicious. This version was incredible, with the brioche literally melting on the tongue as soon as you took a bite.
Who orders a single Oyster? Me, that’s who. I would have ordered more but K recently had yet another bout of gout, and had to swear off shellfish for a few weeks to get his uric acid levels back down to a less risky level. While I wasn’t able to cut out all seafood in solidarity, I did at least just have a single fresh, briney, oyster rather than the two or three I wanted.
The Pan Seared Scallops and Cauliflower Three Ways was a surprisingly good dish. I was a little doubtful when the dish first came to the table as the scallops were much smaller than I had expected, and looked almost like the tiny anemic frozen scallops you can get from the supermarket. Instead, they proved to be remarkably soft and tender, with a delicious almost caramel glazing.
I bet you’re also wondering how there was ‘cauliflower three ways’ on this dish as well…there’s a spiced cauliflower puree, roasted cauliflower florets, and crispy cauliflower leaves as well!
We continued with the Angel Hair Pasta with Calamari, one of my choices even though I didn’t know what ‘longaniza oscura’ was. Luckily it turned out to be a delectable salami-style sausage, rather than something far less palatable like tripe! Flavoured with squid ink, the longaniza oscura helps to add additional seafood flavours to the pasta, complementing the subtle calamari flavours.
K finished his Southside cocktail quickly, and ordered the Old Spiced Old Fashioned to get him through the rest of our meal. Smoky without being over-smoked, a slight hint of citrus, smooth and amply spiced, this cocktail is much more suited to slow, savouring sips.
We ordered a Mixed Leaf Salad to go with our shared main course. Lightly dressed with a vinaigrette and mixed with some light puffed grains, this salad was simple but did the job well with beautifully fresh baby salad leaves that almost looked hand-picked.
This was our main course – lightly seared Lamb Rump for K the meat-lover, and beautiful Baba Ganoush and grilled eggplant for me the eggplant-lover. K enjoyed the tender lamb, but my highlight was the rich and smokey babaganoush. It made the perfect accompaniment for the crispy crunchy fried chickpeas. This is one dish that is best shared between two as it is quite rich and could be overwhelming if eaten alone.
Onto dessert, despite our already full bellies! K chose a rather unusual dessert, using an ingredient I would never associate with sweets – parsnip! His Star Anise Caramel Cake was served with confit parsnip and parsnip ice-cream. I tried a little bit and wasn’t a big fan as it didn’t quite hit that sweet dessert note. K enjoyed it as a change from the usual type of desserts, as the flavours were quite subtle and not quite as rich or heavy on the palate.
I chose the intriguingly named Kitchen Sink which fulfilled its name as it was served in a metal tub not unlike a kitchen sink! This dish included much more traditional dessert flavours, and resembled a deconstructed lemon cheesecake with its use of lemon curd and white chocolate. The crunchy honeycomb and macarons were almost like a cheesecake crust. The only downside to this dish is that it was difficult to get a good mix of all ingredients on the spoon at once.
Geronimo Aperitivo Bar & Restaurant isn’t really the type of restaurant you would expect to find in Northern Tasmania. Exuding a cool yet relaxed atmosphere, with a comprehensive drinks list and a superb menu, Geronimo wouldn’t be out of place in the laneways of Melbourne or streets of inner-west Sydney. A wonderful place to have our second anniversary dinner – thank you Geronimo!
Geronimo Aperitivo Bar & Restaurant is located at 186 Charles St in Launceston, Tasmania.
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