In a region oozing with epicurean talent – take Bruny Island Cheese Co and Huon Valley Meat Co for example – it’s about time the hospitality savvy jump on board. Well, they have. Peppermint Bay – a bistro, bar, function space – is a refined, relaxed display of what this glorious part of Tasmania has to offer.

In a successfully sneaky move, you enter the bistro and bar past a providore and via a display of baked goods and petit fours. I remind myself to save room for later before being calmly greeted by a young man in smart denim. The place is as cool inside as it is architecturally out. Simple timber dining ensembles, solid bar, blackboards and fresh-picked posies are a side-note to the sweeping panels of glass allowing views of Peppermint Bay’s namesake.

While I’d love nothing more than to spread out across a generous round table beneath the taxidermied head of a bearded goat, my dining companion and I opt for a more inconspicuous bench seat with a direct view to bobbing yachts and Bruny Island. Peppermint Bay is nestled on four acres of waterfront headland in the southern Tasmanian village of Woodridge and plays host to commanding views across the d’Entrecastreaux Channel. We’d sit on boxed timber seats beneath umbrellas on the terrace but d’Entrecastreaux drizzle prevents al fresco dining today. If you do visit amid sunshine, be sure to wander Peppermint Bay’s gardens: along with the award-winning building, they tempt curiosity and promote nature.

After a sip of Pooley pinot grigio, chosen from an exceptional array of local booze, we order lots of veggies and plenty of protein: about eight dishes all up. Our waiter politely suggests all this may be a bit much but we press on, excitedly anticipating greatness from a place closely tied to Hobart’s famed Franklin. Before Franklin, chefs David Moyle and Ben Lindell launched their first hospitality venture at Peppermint Bay and still it presents a similar ethos to that now-famous Hobart-based restaurant: all things au naturale dictate the menu and the wine list.

At Peppermint Bay, glossy snow peas and green beans click brilliantly on first bite, the multi-coloured carrots sprinkled with buckwheat and splashed with olive oil have character and the fat octopus tentacles are a well-performed, spicy rendition of a contemporary classic. Despite the duck being an import from across the Strait, it’s citrusy, sweet and juicy. A fancy toastie oozes with white mould cheese and a bowl of crisp, thick-cut fries proves the kitchen does basics bloody well. The offerings are generous and gastropub-ish, leaving us ready for a cube of salted caramel – or local Grandvewe Cheese Farm sheep’s milk ice-cream.

It’s all very casual: the waiters aren’t in a huge hurry to clear our plates but the two of them are by now balancing multiple covers. Fellow diners – grey nomads and newlyweds – are probably fresh off the Bruny ferry eager for a feed. But most have caught on to the relaxed vibe and are happy to sit back, peruse their Nikons and nibble on salted pistachios and house baked bread.

P-Bay – as the kids say – is worth the windy 30 minute drive from Hobart’s CBD. If only for a glass of sparkling on the deck in the summer sun.