Get your old-school fix of corned beef, ox tongue, pate and relish at Elsternwick’s Carter Lovett
Straddling the divide between cafe and restaurant with retro charm, Carter Lovett offers coffee and eggs by day all the way to late-night snacks and tipples.
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It’s the little things that count, like being able to immediately spot the staff when you walk into a cafe. At Elsternwick’s Carter Lovett, rather than a mishmash of denim, dirty sneakers and logo tees, staff sport smart aprons which only adds to the sophistication of this new cafe by day and wine bar and bistro by night.
For the past 35 years, the corner spot on Glen Huntly Rd was educational toy shop Child & Adult. But in the late 19th century, it was a drapery run by a Ms Carter — hence the moniker which also namechecks Ms Carter’s neighbour, a florist called Ms Lovett.
The 65-seater (with room for 42 more outside on the side footpath) marks the evolution of hospo lifer Jim Marinis and wife Mary-Jane Daffy, whose first venture was seven years ago with Bentleigh’s Little Tommy Tucker. With chef Brett Hobbs, they went on to transform an old service station in Elsternwick into Glovers Station (now sold), before opening Brighton fave Saint Martin’s.
Fans, locals and destination diners have been quick to feel the grown-up vibes at the team’s first day-into-night venue, which since December has been filling a gap in the area, say locals Daffy and Marinis who live a block away with their young family, for weekend brunch as much as early dinner with the kids or a post-movie bite and vino.
Chef Lachlan Williams also comes on as a partner, with a menu that nods to olde England, with dishes featuring old-school ingredients such as corned beef, ox tongue, pates and relishes.
For breakfast, the Cumberland sausage ($23) does a roaring trade. From Elwood butcher Felice’s Place, the springlike pork snag is mildly spiced, leaving the heat to the chilli on the two fried eggs. An excellent chunky zucchini relish — made to Daffy’s grandmother’s recipe — is the perfect foil to the coil.
The corned beef roll ($15) is another retro goodie, a take on the tradie staple — the egg and bacon roll — with slices of well-textured corned beef, made over a three-day process
of steeping, salting and steaming, with cheese, a fried egg and a slick of mustard in a soft
white roll.
Lunch might be the hearty barley risotto ($22), the grains cooked with wine, stock and aromats but still al dente and blended with peas and mint for a vibrant verdant hue that looks
as good as it tastes, with goats cheese for a creamy finish.
After-dark delights include a mini ox tongue cheeseburger ($8) that riffs off a cult dish at Glovers Station, and bigger bistro meals such as steak and chips ($35) or roast chicken ($28) with green beans and brown butter.
Drinks are an integral part of the Carter Lovett package, particularly the cocktail list — one of the city’s most enticing — with sips like a coffee-spiked negroni ($18) and a gin and tonic ($15) with strawberries, pepper and basil.
Service is swift even when it’s a packed house, and waiters bubble with enthusiasm. The fit-out, by designer Megan Hounslow, is gorgeous, all high ceilings and dusty pinks and greys on concrete and drapery.
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On the back of the menu are the words: “Our offer is best shared with family, peers and friends who live to eat, laugh and share.”
It speaks volumes of genuinely passionate owners who walk the walk every day to improve Melbourne’s hospitality scene. Love it.
CARTER LOVETT
329 Glen Huntly Rd, Elsternwick