Seasonal cocktails, a rare spirits club and local beer and wine will be on offer at Mary Mary, located in the Tasman Hotel, Hobart.
Hidden away just off the cobblestoned streets of Salamanca Place is the door to Mary Mary, a luxurious drinking venue within the Tasman Hotel.
Located in the site of the old St. Mary’s Hospital (constructed in 1841), Mary Mary is the latest bar that Proof Creative have worked on, implementing the company’s carefully honed 20 Pillar consultancy method, as Senior Bar Consultant, Charlie Ainsbury explains.
“The bar was very much a clean slate,” Charlie says.
“Proof Creative does everything from the ground up – we start with the concept of the bar and really flesh that out, taking influence from many things: the location of the hotel, how it is going to relate at the time of opening, and what the Australian bar industry actually needs.”
With Mary Mary, the concept is centred around the drinks offering, and the quality of local Tasmanian products.
“Most of the concept of Mary Mary was to be a beacon of fine drinking in Tasmania,” Charlie says.
“Tasmania has always been that cool cousin in terms of the Australia food and drinks scene.”
“They always had better projects than the rest of us, and they always seemed to do food and beverages right,” Charlie explains.
“So we very much wanted to be a part of that, and dare I say it, wanted to lead the way in a sense.”
Mary Mary’s drinks menu showcases Tasmania’s world-class distilling and drinks scene, with Charlie saying the bar tried to reimagine classic cocktails, as if they had been originally created in the Apple Isle.
“When Jerry Thomas was creating the Martinez, he only had certainly ingredients that he could use – he didn’t have Paramount or ALM to order from!”
“He’d say, ‘Well this is the gin that I have, these are the local bitters, this is the vermouth,’ and he put them together. All of these classic cocktails are born out of what was around them.”
“So all of these classic cocktails were born out of necessity, so I thought, ‘Okay, well, why don’t we try that? Why don’t we take classic cocktails and see what they would look like in Tasmania?”
One undying classic that Charlie has a particular affinity for is the Whisky Highball, and he explains how they have recreated this drink with an entirely Tasmanian provenance.
“It’s local whisky that we keep frozen, a beautiful big spear of ice from the Antarctic ice company, and a sparkling mead from Two Metre Tall brewery in the Derwent valley.”
The switch from soda water, to sparkling mead, introduces the classic flavour combination of whisky and honey, and makes this drink entirely Mary Mary’s own. Read the recipe here.
Service is another crucial pillar of the bar’s concept. Once drinkers enter Mary Mary’s thick stone walls, the host will guide them either to the padded bar top, or to soft leather seats at quiet tables beside the fireplace. Here they’ll be invited to select from Mary Mary’s modest menu of drinks and small plates.
Sourcing of the seasonal ingredients for the food offering will be eased through the bar’s close collaboration with Massimo Mele, Head Chef at the neighbouring Peppina Restaurant. Massimo is lucky enough to enjoy close rapports with many of Tasmania’s farmers and producers.
“His relationship with farmers and providores around the state is second to none,” Charlie says.
“Massimo knows a lot of these farmers by name, so it is a case of knowing where our citrus is coming from, where our cherries and apricots are coming from.”
“Tasmania always came first with anything. If we don’t have it, if it’s not in season, then we’re not going to use it,” Charlie concludes.
In the future there are plans to introduce ‘The Coal Room,’ a disused coal chute that will be repurposed to store Mary Mary’s collection of the rarest and most exclusive Tasmanian spirits. This room may also later house their own barrels of maturing spirit.
Part of the Mary Mary’s service will be the eventual creation of the Tasmanian Spirits Society, an open members’ club that will host tastings and talks from Tasmanian distillers and producers.
“We really want to make this community embrace everything about the Tasmanian drinks industry,” Charlie says.
Mary Mary is located at The Tasman, a hotel from Marriott’s the Luxury Collection.
The bar is overseen by Ronán Kavanagh, a veteran of the hospitality and spirits industry who has previously worked at Charles Oates distillery.
Mary Mary is open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 4pm.
