Serves 4

20 large Portland mussels in the shell, scrubbed and de-bearded

4 Artickokes

1 bunch of micro fennel

1 punnet of broad bean flowers

200ml dry white wine

200ml light fish stock

2 limes juiced

1 fresh chilli

1/2 an orange juiced

300g carrots

Pinch of fennel seeds

Although Ceviche is a South American dish where seafood is cooked solely by the use of a marinade, generally citrus based, we briefly steam our mussels in the wine and stock to open them earlier in the day, before marinating them for 5 minutes in the lime, orange and chilli, just prior to serving.

To make the carrot puree, bring a mirepoix of carrot to the simmer in the steaming liquor from the mussels and cook till tender, before putting them in the bar blender with enough of the liquid to make a smooth puree. Set aside.

Prepare the artichokes by snipping the ends, peeling and cleaning well, then rub with a ct lime. Blanch in boiling, salted water till tender, drain and roast in extra virgin olive oil in a heavy based roasting dish with the fennel seeds, turning until caramelised all over. Set aside.

Clean and blanch the mice fennel, and refresh in iced water.

Assemble the dish using a reserved mussel shell, and pour a little of the citrus marinate over the mussels to finish.

The breakfast dish I’m loving this week using beautiful Kooweerup asparagus

Serves 4

3 Bunches Kooweerup asparagus

1/2 Bulb fennel – finely shaved with a mandolin

100g Red Hill Dairy goat’s cheese

5g Mint leaves

5g Coriander leaves

5g Continental parsley leaves

5g Chervil leaves

5g Micro red chard sprouts

4 rashers of dry cured bacon

8 Free range eggs

50ml Fitzrovia Pomegranate salad dressing

Dice bacon into fine brunoise and sauté in olive oil slowly, allowing the bacon to render out all it’s fat and crisper up. Remove from the oil and drain on absorbent paper. Set aside.

Pick all the herbs and wash, dry and set aside.

Take the rind from the cheese and crumble roughly. Set aside.

Take the tough ends from the asparagus by holding the spears at either end and bending to allow the spear to snap where is wants to. This will naturally be where the spear starts to get tough. Blanch the spears in plenty of boiling salted water for about 10 seconds, then refresh in iced water. Drain and set aside.

Heat a pot of water with no salt, but a touch of white vinegar to poach the eggs. Separately, heat up a ribbed skillet or fry pan and grill the asparagus. While both are cooking, assemble and dress the salad.

Lay the asparagus on 4 serving plates, top with the poached eggs, then the dressed salad and finish with a liberal sprinkle of the bacon crumble and crumbed goat’s cheese.

Since selling Outpost last February, Marco and I have been putting all our energy into our new baby; Fitzrovia in Fitzroy Street, St Kilda. After 6 weeks of refurbishment, we finally opened last month and have been totally surprised by the response from all our old friends. Fitzrovia is a new neighbourhood restaurant in a converted Federation terrace house at 155 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda; under the oak trees, looking over Albert Park. As well as aiming to make Fitzrovia the best cafe in St Kilda for breakfast and lunch, we are now focussing our efforts on taking all the fun things that made Outpost special, and taking them to new heights in a restaurant environment, open for dinner Tuesday to Sunday every week.

True to form, we specialise in ‘Gate to plate’ cuisine, profiling the finest in Victorian produce; bio-dynamic milk from Demeter, butter from Tatura, Romsey Range beef, salt from Mount Zero, Rokewood lamb, goats’ cheese from Drysdale, chicken from Bacchus Marsh, free-range eggs from Geelong, organic Port Phillip mussels, Leopold potatoes, sea succulents from the coast and nasturtiums from the bowling club!As you may well know, I tend change my mind with my dishes pretty regularly, so everything is a work-in-progress and what we’re making today will be quite different to what we’ll make tomorrow! I have attached a copy of our current menu for you to take a look at. It would be great to see you and give you a sample of what we have been up to! You can phone Marco on 9537 0001 to make a reservation, or just pop in – we always keep some tables booking-free for our friends!

Look forward to seeing you soon at Fitzrovia!