AM:PM

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481 Highett Rd. Highett, VIC 3190

My score: 3.5/5

In the olden days, when looking for a home, you’d think about double-glazing, wardrobe space and room for a barbecue. These days, top-of-mind concerns include access to a morning latte, an evening vino and, of course, the proximity to gingerbread pancakes. If you’re in Highett, down by the railway line, you can tick all your boxes quick smart.

AM:PM is a new all-day eatery at the base of a swish apartment development. The same owners have the adjacent Deli Co foodstore as well. The build is new but it’s comfortable and spacious and there’s an appealing “yes we can” ethic to the double-barrelled business. Need breakfast? Yes. Want a bunch of basil or some fancy French cheese? Oui. Looking for a place to park the pram for a mothers’ group debrief? We’ve got you. Thirsty for a well-priced wine? Absolutely, yes!

Manager Ben Logan started washing dishes 30 years ago and he’s picked up a few things about hospitality along the way, in particular during five years running Lina’s bistro in Albert Park. Lina’s is cosy and worn, AM:PM is shiny and boxy but there’s a similar customer-focused warmth which is especially appealing in a new business.

Chef Jack Stuart is a Brisbane boy just back from three years learning Michelin tricks in England, most notably at L’Enclume and The Forest Side in the Lake District. He’s never cooked in a cafe before and he’s over-delivering brilliantly, running a sharp seasonal menu from morning to night.

Ginger is dried overnight then turned to powder for the springy gingerbread pancake, layered with charred apple and tea-soaked, star-anise-spiced prunes. Sebago potatoes are baked on rock salt so they’re nice and dry before being grated and pressed into one of Melbourne’s best hashes. This paprika-dusted potato brick is merely the side for a slow-cooked cassoulet with beans, speck, chorizo and a baked egg. It’s a stonking meal; you’ll need to walk the dog to Sandringham and back to work it off.

Wild fennel and chickweed are foraged from the nearby railway then used in the lunch hit dish of potato gnocchi with mushrooms and caramelised garlic. If you want a hand-held midday meal, the wagyu brisket burger is delicious: thin-sliced tender meat is loved up with bone marrow gravy, then cut through cleverly with pickled cabbage.

There’s similar poise with snacky night-time dishes like arancini, a warm salad of sweet potato and wild rice and, especially, the ham hock terrine. The cured hock is cooked for five hours, picked from the bone, mixed with shallots, parsley and mustard and pressed gently to set naturally in its own gelatine. It’s served with a classic cauliflower piccalilli relish: the balance of rich and piquant, smooth and crunchy is excellent.

It’s early days and more is planned: innovative easy-pay systems, take home meals and, next month, a menu that seeks out spring and reflects it on the plate. I’d like to see proper meals alongside the tapas at dinnertime, too, but what I’d really love is to reach into my pocket and find a key to one of the upstairs apartments. Then I could be one of the lucky locals with this congenial dining spot just outside my front door.

First published in Good Food, 7th August 2017.