The new restaurant from the team behind Cam’s Kiosk puts great wines and delicious produce front and centre, adding substance to the mantra of seasonality and freshness.
If unfussy deliciousness is what you’re all about, then Julie has your number, both on the plate and in the glass.
Set in what looks to be a refectory that would’ve once served the nuns of the order of The Good Shepherd and the women who were in their care, it’s a restaurant with a unique and special atmosphere. The combination of the history of the site, which was established as a convent of the Catholic Church over these six hectares back in 1863, and its function today as home to a thriving community of artists and creatives makes it unlike any other setting for a restaurant in Melbourne. And the overlay of a venue led by women in the kitchen and front-of-house seems fitting in the context of that history.
And what a team that is. Chef Jules Blum comes to Julie from six years at sister venue Cam’s Kiosk, while head chef Stephannie Liu’s credits include Melbourne’s Apollo Bar, Atelier September in Copenhagen, and La Buvette in Paris. The front-of-house is no less special, with Anna Clifford, an alumna of Cam’s and Public Wine Shop, leading the charge, and Sophie O’Kane, whose work you might know from Manzé, stepping into the sommelier role.
Just as self-sufficiency was part of the convent’s charter back in its day, the Julie team also likes to stay close to the land. The team grows as much produce as they can in their vegetable garden on the property, and source anything else from small farms, adding substance to their mantra of seasonality and freshness.
Are we having a dinner-roll moment right now? At Julie, certainly, the answer is yes: these golden, housemade numbers served with a generous dollop of whipped butter are a must, and that goes double if you’re having oysters.
The garden veg pops like bursts of spring all over the menu, with peppery leaves of red mustard lending their bite to the flathead with ginger and spring onion sauce, and charred cabbage providing the oomph to a plant-based broth carrying the farro risotto with a creamy cashew sauce and mustardy turnip tops. Octopus ragù with anelletti – that’s what the proper Italian name is for spaghetti-os – and fennel is already one of the most Instagrammed and TikTokked regulars among the entrees. But for pure, fresh deliciousness, our vote is split between a plate of grilled cos, broad beans and asparagus punched up with just enough blue cheese and a vinaigrette flavoured with dill flowers, and the artichokes and borlotti beans, an inspired combination of vegetal textures enriched with crumbled-up pork and fennel sausage and a dab of sour cream.
In main-course land, if you’re not doing the risotto or the flathead, the roast chicken with charred lemon is a hit, and the pork chop, taken in a North African direction with chermoula spice, is also a sure thing.
?$dans-daily-web-image$&wid=800)
%20HopeSt_HighRes-12?$dans-daily-web-image$&hei=900)
