In yet another ripple in Melbourne's wave of all-day eateries, Clementine is the latest café to join South Melbourne’s leafy Palmerston Crescent. The idea was dreamt up by hospo veteran Glen Bagnara, a name you may recognise from sultry wine bars Hemingway’s Wine Room and Bianco. But make no mistake, fresh and funky Clementine promises to be something entirely different altogether.
Here, there’s a focus on extravagant yet refined brunch and lunch dishes, like confit duck waffles with orange compote and sautéed leek, 24-hour slow-cooked beef short rib kimchi fried rice and lobster Florentine with mushroom ragu. A breakfast soufflé of Japanese pancakes, vanilla ice cream, and Nutella rice crisps is sure to be the sweet tooth’s pick, while salty potato chips dipped in Dukes coffee foam reward the daring. If you don’t have time to sit in, you’ll find plenty of treats to take out. Make a beeline for the glass cabinets to pick a cake from the inimitable Söt by Mörk or an AM Bakehouse pastry.
They say behind every great man is a great woman, a sentiment Bagnara no doubt invoked when he named this elevated daytime diner after Sir Winston Churchill’s wife. But we think there’s also something of that feminine spirit in the way Clementine's interior has been designed. She’s an airy space filled with natural light, copper fixtures and warm timber accents. Jewel-toned sea glass tiles frame the kitchen, and bi-fold doors lead to a shaded patio.
Later in autumn, a curated selection of wines, Champagne and cocktails are set to be added to the menu, upgrading Clementine’s current virginal status to a certified boozy brunch hotspot. Watch this space.
