À LA FIONA: The Hub, Derby
There comes a time in a person’s life where camping becomes moot, and that’s the polite word for it. Its trials must be compensated for. If I’m to hoist my leg over a saddle for a weekend’s biking in Derby, I expect to return somewhat battered and bruised, with my dignity dented. But there will be no cooking on the camp stove for me.
I’ll be dining out.
Luckily, for a small town in the middle of dairy farming country, Derby delivers on the promise. The Hub is the pizza joint and a winning combination of old and new. Quaint, smoky blue weatherboard on the outside, it’s all brick, wood and warmth on the inside. Much of that warmth is from the mosaic-tiled brick oven the pizzas are sizzling in.
Right inside the front door, you’ll find head chef and owner Jason Hayden twirling pizza bases with practiced insouciance. He and wife Jacqueline are into their third year and thousands of perfectly sized epicurean plates with gourmet toppings.
Bookings are essential – we got the last spot outside, but on this balmy evening that’s not a bad place to be. The front balcony is lined with jovial fellow travellers regaling each other with tales of epic gravity runs. Some of them have scored one of the majestic chesterfield sofas. We are on tin bar-stools, which gives this saddle-sore, middle-aged cyclist pause for thought. Note to self: stand up more on the pedals.
Jason’s Hayden’s philosophy on ingredients is Tasmanian first, Australian second, and the menu is a mix of the traditional and the edgy. They provide ably for my teenage companion who wants that least Italian of options, the Hawaiian. It’s listed in slightly camouflaged fashion on the menu as a Capricorn Dancer, which appeals to me because he has to read something to find it. Sighting pineapple, he orders, dispensing with the requirement for onion, and all is well.
I’m more adventurous, on the plate if not on the trail. My choice of the Bianco Special is a deliberately pale confection of mozzarella, rosemary, pistachios and red onion. Rosemary is an analgesic, used for centuries in medicine and in aromatherapy to relieve pain and stiffness. It’s the perfect choice, and I feel its piquant zing warming my palate and emanating outwards to ease muscles for the rest of the evening.
This is undoubtedly helped by the glass of velvety merlot from Holm Oak, chosen from an excellent wine list.
Pizza and pub is the choice for an evening repast in Derby, and our next dinner sees us in the beer garden at the Dorset Hotel. There too, owners Brooke and Sean McDonald moved in three years ago and invite visitors to stay, drink, eat and do their laundry in the capacious rooms of this lovely old building.
The beer garden folds round the side and back, with workaday picnic tables, a shady oak and lush grass for the kids to run around on. There’s fish and chips followed by waffles and ice-cream for younger diners, while the specials board offers more interesting fare for us discerning folk. I plump for the slow-braised beef cheeks, because why wouldn’t you? They’re fall-apart tender and soaked in jus, and the accompaniment of sautéed silverbeet with garlic, lemon and chilli is an intriguing combination I wouldn’t have thought to put together myself – exactly the reason I ordered it. The wine list has most things you’d want on it, and the beer on tap comes in handled mugs, purpose built for keeping the cold wet stuff in the glass and not on the hands, and raising toasts over the chicken parmigiana.
Such is the good life here, ex-chef Luke Clarke has made it home. In his shed at the top of the town, he bakes a supply of sourdough loaves to order, and uses time off to live the seasonal life in his garden, and smoke things over a fire pit.
As my son saws up and down the street on his bike, I do a fair bit of strolling along the pavements, feeling well-catered for in this town. Two daytime establishments, Crank It Café and Two Doors Down, and an IGA keep visitors supplied with the necessities, and everywhere there are places to sit, imbibe and pore over the Trail Forks app to plan the next downhill adventure.
At every watering hole and coffee joint there’s a pole to sling your bike over, presumably in lieu of the posts the early pioneers and miners would tie their horses to. We’ve enjoyed our time bringing a little swagger (and in some cases stagger) back to the streets, and will be back for more flowing on trails and bonhomie at the tables.
THE HUB
72 Main Street, Derby
Fiona Stocker is a writer based in the Tamar Valley. She has published the books A Place in the Stockyard (2016) and Apple Island Wife (2018). More of her writing can be seen at fionastocker.com.
