Today’s chat is with Julian Summer at Pier St. over in Portarlington. Pier St is owned by Peter Roddy and his partner, Ebony Vagg and a couple of years ago, I had the absolute pleasure of speaking to Peter at their other venue, Noir in Richmond. Julian did part of his apprenticeship at Noir before heading to Perth and working at Wildflower, a fine dining restaurant specialising in native ingredients and respecting the aboriginal seasons. Being invited to join Peter and Ebony in their next venture speaks volumes for Julian. I was lucky enough to be a guest of Port Phillip Ferries and Pier St last Saturday and I have to say, what a lovely day trip. It is so easy to take 1 hour 40-minute ferry trip from Victoria Harbour across to Portarlington, Pier St is literally at the end of the pier, so you can drink beautiful Bellarine Peninsula wine, and eat Portarlington mussels (or of course their other dishes!) then get the ferry home again. Perfect. As was my chat to Julian, who braved the wind outside the kitchen to tell me about his journey and discoveries as a chef and how excited he is to discover more.
