Little Picket at the Lorne Bowls Club
On Jo Barrett's unassuming seaside ode to sustainability, in long-form.
Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside; provided, of course, I’m in the salubrious comfort of a hatted restaurant serving some of Australia’s best food.
This has not always been the case in coastal Lorne, where the bush meets the sea, and the campers and ex-Melbourne Grammar alumni alike congregate at holidays and long weekends. In times gone by, Lorne’s dining options didn’t extend too far beyond fish and chips and charcoal chicken, unless one could snare a table at one of Kosta Talimanidis’ legendary seaside tavernas.
However, sleepy Lorne has undergone a food revolution in recent years; MoVida’s successful stint at The Lorne Hotel opened the door for Adam D’Sylva’s CODA pop up. Now a proven and viable restaurant location, it came as little surprise when Justin Hemmes announced his purchase of the legendary watering hole, which would become the site for the first Victorian iteration of his signature Totti’s eatery. This is not a dissertation on the merits of Merivale, but having dined at the Lorne version of Totti’s a few times now, I can report it is as seamless and high quality an operation as any of the Sydney locations. On a Monday night in off-season, Totti’s is heaving; it seems to be the perfect fit for Lorne’s varied and often incongruous clientele.
Lorne has been further boosted by a renovated Lorne Theatre, under the guidance of the team behind Sydney’s excellent Golden Age theatre, and the addition of press release mainstay Davd Moyle’s The Clam, although those familiar with Moyle’s game won’t be expecting him to hang around for long. But the most exciting addition in recent times has been Jo Barrett’s tenure at the Lorne Bowls Club. Barrett’s resume is impressive, having overseen the lauded kitchen program at Oakridge Winery and Joost Bakker’s Future Food System experiment at Federation Square, both in partnership with chef Matt Stone. Barrett could have taken her pick of almost any location in Australia for her next venture, but the allure of a more relaxed pace and the prospect of overseeing her own garden seem to have been the driving force behind the Lorne move.
While a country bowls club is certainly a unique venue for such a celebrated chef, the venue itself is lovely, and doesn’t want for much; the location is charming and convenient, and the club’s kitsch Australiana decor is not a great deal different to what many million dollar venues in major Australian cities are currently aiming for. Adding to the appeal from a staffing perspective, the restaurant only trades three services a week; Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday lunch, where we were lucky enough to secure a table. Bookings are rarer than a sober AFL identity at the Lorne Hotel in Summer, so careful planning is required to score a spot. I’d recommend making a point of booking well ahead; Barrett’s coronation as Good Food’s chef of the year has made reservations extremely sought after.
Our table for 5 is outside on the front veranda of the building, and while a little cramped and at times forgotten, is necessitated by the presence of the two canines in attendance. While the ageing border collie cross Pippa preferred to doze calmly underfoot, rampant guts Henry, a gourmandising and insatiable beagle, looked on with feverous jealousy as every dish arrived. It was pretty cool to be able to bring your dogs to such a nice restaurant, so any concerns about the quality of the table were negated.
Little Picket’s hand-written menu is the usual mixture of smaller share dishes and 5 more substantial mains, all heavily informed by seasonality and sustainability. To begin, perfectly risen, golden brown lacquered potato bread buns arrive, luxuriating in a roasted garlic and parsley butter, perhaps better described as a soup; the sheer audacity of the butter on display here is breathtaking. The buns elicit an audible “wow” from the table, and taste almost as good as they look, the enriched, sweet dough and robust potato flavour a perfect counter to the garlic butter.
Served alongside, an assortment of cucumbers and cheese curds, dressed elegantly in dill oil and carefully picked herbs and flowers. The dish adds a refreshing crunch to proceedings, the first example of the kitchen’s deft touch and elegant, naturalistic plating style. A portion of venison mortadella, served with a horseradish cream and some sort of Branston-adjacent pickle, is pleasant but unremarkable, the venison flavour not easily detectable.
A personal highlight follows, already a contender for most giddy “pig in shit” restaurant moment of 2024; a trio of pork and cabbage dim sims, dressed in chilli oil. It’s a toe-curling moment of pleasure and nostalgia. As a devout dim sim disciple, these are just about the finest example of the artform I can fathom; perfectly seasoned coarse filling in a delicate skin, these toe the line perfectly between high-end yum cha and suburban footy ground tuck shop. A brilliant tie into the venue’s lawn bowls heritage, I’d make the trip to Lorne again just for a plate of these divine dumplings.
Another showstopper dish is next, in the form of a house-made halloumi, draped in pickled lemon and drizzled in local honey. Having been dazzled by Colin Wood’s viral halloumi exploits on Instagram, I was ultimately a touch disappointed by the actual product when I sampled it at Sydney’s Poly in 2021. No such issues here, as Barrett’s version of the traditional Cypriot cheese balances the creamy and saline notes perfectly, and retains its texture well. The dish is a knockout, but too small for its $18 price point.
Time for the more robust dishes, starting with one of those menu wordings that just sounds too far up my alley to believe; Skull Island prawn & morcilla with snow peas, green tomato, lime and coriander. It sounds and looks like summer on a plate, the two prawns butterflied retaining their heads and nicely charred, served alongside the blood sausage and the elegant salad. It’s a unique and original flavour combo, a sort of Thai salad, crunchy and refreshing, with the flavourful weight of shellfish and charcuterie seasoning and giving heft. I love this, but it lacked some body, and ultimately wasn’t a completely satisfying dish, needing a carb or a third prawn to eat more evenly and warrant the price tag ($33).
A lovely, skillfully made spiral of ravioloni arrived next, simply dressed in a hazelnut butter and perched on a creamy leek puree. The filling of braised rooster was a nice reminder of Barrett’s focus on sustainability, the lesser-utilised male chicken providing a no less delicious and rich bedfellow to the pasta. A comforting plate of food.
Significantly less charitable things could be said about a dish of BBQ zucchini and squash with tahini, saffron and basil, which amounted to a few small pieces of grilled cucurbitaceae, some nuts and a bit of sauce. At an eye watering $36, this dish missed the mark completely. It was at this time the buzzing restaurant hit its service peak, the amiable floor team struggling to keep up, and our table was more or less forgotten for a very extended period. We’d have liked to order more food and drinks, particularly as one of our guests does not eat seafood - and the vegetable dish was so underwhelming both in quality and quantity - but were unable to. When our server did arrive to clear our plates, we were curtly told to go to the bar to order more food and drinks, an option we didn’t know existed.
While this didn’t detract greatly from our mostly lovely experience, and Little Picket would likely point to the fact that it’s a casual eatery reliant on local staff, the prices are that of a fine dining restaurant. Should a venue with such pure aspirations, outstanding skill and quality produce charge accordingly for its services? Absolutely. Should that venue also then supply a certain standard of service? I would say so.
On three separate occasions members of our table got up to ask about the dessert menu, and by the time we were finally told about the desserts (there was no physical dessert menu), we’d all more or less had enough and wanted to go. This isn’t really on at a venue where lunch will set you back over $100 per head.
Despite a few hiccups, it’s exciting to see venues like Little PIcket strive so greatly outside of the confines of the urban sprawl. What is clear here, perhaps even evident in the service issues on our visit, is that this joint is already very successful, hardly surprising given Barrett’s pedigree and profile. I’m looking forward to a return visit soon; if I can get a booking, that is.
Little Picket
35 Mountjoy Parade, Lorne VIC 3232
(03) 5289 1462