The restaurant on Tasman Highway, St Helens aims to highlight the greatest parts of Tasmanias East Coast.

Chefs Stefaan Codron and Jonathan Wong made the decision to move to the East Coast after falling in love with the region.

We fell in love with Port Huon [in the states South], so we bought a block of land there, Codron said.

Then last Christmas we came back, and we fell in love with the East Coast and Scamander, and we bought a house here.

At Easter we came back and then we really, really fell in love with St Helens.

We decided to buy the restaurant because we thought we somehow have to settle in St Helens or Scamander because every time we come [to Tasmania] we seem to be buying [property].

Codron was originally from Belgium, and began his culinary career at age 13.

He later worked at Michelin-star restaurants in France, as an executive chef with Hyatt International, as a development chef for Lite n Easy, and as a global development chef for Dominos pizza.

Wong was born in Malaysia, and spent his early career as an IT consultant before finding a passion for food while studying in the US. He began training as a chef in Brisbane, and later worked as a development chef for Dominos.

Codron said they were in the process of renovating the restaurant, which used to be an Indian restaurant called Logans Hot and Spicy.

The reason we chose this venue was partly because of the heritage of the building, Wong said.

I believe in the old days, it used to be a smeltery.

The layout of the restaurant is a little challenging but we wanted to give [the building] a rebirth, and give the restaurant a second chance.

Furneauxs menu will feature French and modern Australian cuisine.

What we want to do as much as possible is showcase what this part of Tasmania has to offer, Codron said.

Its a smaller-style restaurant focused on great service, fresh produce, and beautiful food.

Inspiration for the restaurants name came from Captain Tobias Furneaux, who first explored the East Coast area in 1773.

He was the person who named this part of the world, Codron said.

It had to be a French-style of cuisine [that we served], because I think his grandfather was of French descent. And, it was very important to make sure that we had a tie-in into the community. Furneaux was the thing that made it all work for us.

The restaurant will officially open on July 20.