When The Agrarian Kitchen opens the doors to its new purpose-built cooking school at the end of October it will mark “an evolution,” says co-owner Rodney Dunn. “We never thought that we’d have the restaurant and having them in two different locations was problematic,” he says. 

The new space which is located at the New Norfolk site of their well-regarded eatery is, he says, reminiscent of the old with high ceilings, lots of natural light and views up to the hills outside. “We were really mindful that so many people fell in love with the space before this, and we really had a responsibility to make it as good, if not better,” he says.

It’s not simply that classes will start again in a new space. Dunn says that the decision that drove the development most was their new garden, “a wonderful space just behind the restaurant where we could set up,” says Dunn. “And, having this empty room in the restaurant building which was kind of sitting there as a dumping ground, everything made sense to do this.”

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Dunn describes the new incarnation of The Agrarian Kitchen as a tripod, “a restaurant, cooking school and for the first time the garden which will be open to the public [from December] via guided tours. The garden is the thing that binds everything together compared to what it was, and we’ve once again been able to plan it from scratch as we have with the school.” 

Garden based classes are now on the horizon drawing on the knowledge of a trio of gardeners. “Our head gardener, Mitch is just not only a great guy, but a really good communicator,” says Dunn. “Over time we’ve focused more and more on the garden. Our food is very vegetable based and heading much more in that direction. We’ll never be vegetarian or vegan, but certainly that’s really the crux of where we want to stem from.” 

With a slight shift in capacity, to 12 people per class, instead of 10, it will be The Agrarian Kitchen that many have come to know, yet says Dunn, imbued with the lessons of their 12 years in business. The new location will allow his kitchen team at the eatery to pitch in to classes. “I’ve got these amazing guys who work for me and of course, have been indoctrinated into the ways of making cheese and charcuterie. We’ve got this amazing resource pool which I can pull on to help make the classes that much better.” 

The Agrarian Kitchen’s new October class schedule will be available for viewing from Thursday, 15 September at theagrariankitchen.com. In the meantime, you can taste their menu at their eatery.

The Agrarian Kitchen Eatery
11a The Avenue, New Norfolk TAS 7140
Fri-Sun 11am-2pm

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