If you’ve subscribed to AgendaCity and have been lucky enough to travel to the French or Italian countryside, chances are you’ve been blown away by the food. Chef Greg Feck, who has worked with everyone from Jamie Oliver to Stephanie Alexander, was so inspired by the quality of his overseas meals that he opened Crabapple Kitchen last week as a tribute to his travels.

Greg’s seasonal menu uses the finest Victorian produce available and is a beacon of light on the otherwise stale Glenferrie Road strip in Hawthorn. The breakfast menu is a mix of classics and original dishes. For something different, order the ‘Jum & Bender Sarnie’ with H.P sauce, aioli, bacon and rocket in a sesame brioche bun, or baked eggs in a Northern Indian style curry with lentils and caraway seeds, heirloom carrots, spiced yoghurt and grilled wholemeal flatbread, a replica of a meal eaten in Jalandhar City in India.

Wine is served by the glass and features mostly Australian varieties, punctuated by a white from Austria here and a red from Italy there. Order a red to complement your charcuterie, freshly sliced by an original Berkel meat slicer. The Crabapple Slider with spanner crab, apple, radish, mustard cress and mayo in a baby brioche makes a wonderful snack, while dishes like slow-cooked pork with French lavender and four-cheese ravioli with truffled cauliflower are better suited to the hungry.

The décor at Crabapple Kitchen is decidedly homely: banquettes are highlighted with colourful fabric cushions, potted herbs sit next to a rustic redbrick arch, some seats are made from old cider crates and a sprinkling of flowers greet all who enter. Crabapple Kitchen is old school in a Provencal kind of way, cozy and nostalgic without compromising service (we were double checked, triple checked, and then offered more hot water for our teapots as soon as ours was out). It’s the ultimate spot to reminisce about the good ol’ days over beautiful food; so go on, pick up the phone and catch up with that person you keep meaning to call.

Location: 659 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn
Open: Seven days 7am-5pm
Phone: (03) 9078 5492
Details: crabapplekitchen.com.au/