North Hobart is known to locals and tourists alike as the restaurant strip in Hobart. It’s got it all, from chain restaurants to local pubs and cafes. And now it’s home to a loft-style hidden wine bar serving asian-inspired dishes, a local and international wine list, and a sun-drenched deck to enjoy locally brewed beer – welcome to Teddy’s!
Meet Jeff (Teddy, but you can call him Jeff), a wine lover, Hobart local, and the brains behind NoHo’s best-kept secret.
“Growing up in Hobart, I’ve always been in hospitality and wine-focused. I worked at Grape when I was in uni. I worked at Stefano Lubiana Wines in Granton and did some vintage work for them.”
Like most young Tasmanians, Jeff fled to the ‘mainland’ to pursue his career, where he ended up in Melbourne working at a restaurant called Supernormal, and got into wine distribution,
“I ended up coming back to Hobart working at Peppina with Massimo – that really ignited my love for hospitality again.”
The digs
The space itself is a multi-use building, with The Winston brewing their beer on the ground floor, and Teddy’s up the stairs as well as the deck.
“I always knew this place was here, having been friends with the owners of The Winston for quite a while. I forgot about it when I was looking for a space until I saw it advertised, and it kind of just went from there.”
The furniture and furnishings were all handmade from the community. Jeff built tables with his nephew; friends and ex-bartenders did all the electrical work.
“It’s been a very community-based sort of thing. Everything’s been hand-built; it’s all been a labour of love.”
What’s in a name?
So, who’s Teddy?
“It’s an old childhood nickname. Growing up, everyone knew me as Teddy. And when I moved to Melbourne, I went back to Jeff. Now everyone post-Melbourne just knows me as Jeff. But I guess the name also reminds me of growing up in Hobart, connecting the venue to things I like to drink, things I like to do, and things I like to eat. An ode to growing up in Hobart, in a way.”
Asian-leaning dishes
It’s no surprise that the menu is full of delectable dishes, with chef Glen at the helm, whose cooking track record includes stints at Vue de Monde in Melbourne, and co-head chef at Aloft.
“He’s brought that same passion here, our restaurant ideology is passion in this small neighbourhood bar.”
With items like sardine katsu, fried quail, beef tartare, and BBQ celetiac – you’re in for a treat!
We don’t stick to a single cuisine, though. It’s very kind of everywhere in Asia. We’ve had turnip cakes up there, which have taken the Asian radish cake or carrot cakes as well. Our beef tartare has a nam fric in it, a kind of Thai sauce. So it’s, we have, on our pork shoulder, a yakinika sauce, the Japanese barbecue sauce. So it’s everywhere in Asia.”
The seasonal ingredients are from local farmers’ markets where Jeff sees the families that he grew up around in Hobart and buys vegetables from them. He’s giving back to the community that raised him – one vegetable at a time.
The booze side of things is where Jeff shines.
The wine list features some Tassies, some interstate, and some international. With local beers in the fridge and a rotating house soda menu,
“The most recent one was made from cherry guavas, from my sister’s friend’s farm out in Brim Creek. ”
“The food stays quite seasonal and produce-based. But the wine list is things I can get a hold of, and it changes every week; something new comes on, something new comes off, so since we’ve opened, we’ve had probably 50 new bottles come on and off the list. I want to keep exploring new things and keeping the list fresh and vibrant.”
NoHo community shines
Teddy’s is walk-ins only. They embody the neighbourhood bar concept: if you want to pop in just for a snack, you can, or if you want to settle in for a full dinner and a bottle of wine, you can do that as well.
Seating up to 45 people, including the outdoor decking area, the space is cosy and intimate, equipped with moody low lighting and plants littering the empty spaces.
“We’ve had lots of locals pop their heads in, and since then, some locals in the area have been back every week. It really does feel community-based. Glenn and I have never worked in North Hobart before, and there’s been this sense of community up here. We’ve gotten to know Carrie from Fusion hairdressing next door and Maria, who owns Rewind 321, the vinyl shop. Having the Smith Street boys down the road, and then HBC moving in, it’s been great up here.”
