Whatever happened to Loti at St Kilda’s St Moritz?

It was touted as the fine diner to Melbourne’s elite, led by a rising-star chef with a glittery PR campaign to match — but without warning, Loti closed last year and never reopened.

Whatever happened to Loti, the jewel in St Moritz’s crown?

It was meant to be the fine diner to Melbourne’s elite, led by a rising-star chef with a glittery PR and influencer campaign to match.

Loti, the high-end seaside restaurant inside St Kilda’s flashy St Moritz residential apartment complex, had all the elements to work.

An exciting seafood-led menu, sexy dining room, within view of Port Phillip Bay’s glittery expanse.

Restaurant critics applauded foraging fanatic and chef Elijah Holland’s (ex-Noma) enthusiastic food direction, which played with native flavours, seafood and hyper-local produce.

Loti even ranked in the delicious. 100 guide, published by News Corp which owns this masthead, two months after opening.

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But after 12 months, the jewel in the St Moritz crown was no longer.

Last July the restaurant told its 6K Instagram followers it was “taking a break over winter”. Seven months on it never reopened.

Loti championed native ingredients and seafood. Picture: Nicki Connolly

Loti’s former executive chef Elijah Holland.

Whole lobster butter poached and wrapped in kelp. Picture: Mark Stewart

Now weeks before the loved, yet more casual, pizza restaurant D.O.C fills its void, Melbourne foodies are still puzzled by the closure.

Some have taken to social media, claiming they weren’t reimbursed for unpaid gift cards.

Other fans, as recently as early this month, continued to question why Loti went AWOL.

“It’s nearly now the end of summer. Does that mean you’re closed now permanently?” one asked.

Rebecca Vallance and Olympia Valance at Loti in 2022.

Bec Judd was among the Melbourne A-listers to visit the restaurant.

“What date will you be reopening?” another wrote, while another did their own investigating.

“Their phone number is disconnected and their website form is “unavailable”.

“A sure inspection on Monday revealed a gutted shop and no sign of life whatsoever.”

Rumours swirling in restaurant land have many theories around the snap closure.

Some say the star chef walked, after failing to score a nod in a restaurant guide run by another publication.

The ultra-luxe St Moritz Complex in St Kilda.

The blush pink interior made the perfect backdrop for Instagram posts. Picture : Nicki Connolly

Others say the food went dramatically down hill when Holland left to chase new kitchen opportunities in Western Australia — marking the beginning of the end for Loti.

While some sources say the $540m Gurner project by high-flying Melbourne developer Tim Gurner, just didn’t take off as hoped in this weird post-Covid world, especially after the sudden passing of its most prestigious resident Aussie cricket legend Shane Warne.

Loti’s co-owner and man-about-town Cameron Northway said he left the restaurant after he was “offered the opportunity to step away” last March.

At the time, Northway was a month away from opening his next big project, South Yarra’s glitzy rooftop bar, Beverly.

“I left before we opened the Beverly. It was just too much. We left on good terms, it was the right decision for me,” he said.

The restaurateur said juggling the two venues, plus his Sydney ventures, would have been “a lot”.

Loti was the Sydney businessman’s first foray into Melbourne’s booming hospo scene.

Northway joins fellow ‘north of the border’ restaurateurs Maurice Terzini (Iceberg’s Dining Room) and Merivale boss Justin Hemmes, who’ve gone on to open venues in Melbourne and along the Surf Coast.

It’s not all bad news for St Kilda.

Celebrity chef Karen Martini has taken over Fitzroy Street’s Saint George. Further along the strip, Cafe Di Stasio is planning to turn its vacant upstairs space into an art gallery and function space.

And in a matter of weeks, D.O.C will fill the space occupied by Loti.