Serve: Pigro: When 'lazy' is a good thing

THEME: NEIGHBOURHOOD STARS

★★★½

PIGRO
239 LOWER HEIDELBERG ROAD, IVANHOE EAST, 9499 8882
LICENSED & BYO AE MC V EFTPOS
TUESDAY-SUNDAY 5PM-10PM
ENTREES: $6.50-$19; MAINS: $24.50-$38; DESSERTS: $13-$16.50

I walked into Pigro on a Friday night and instantly knew I was in a good neighbourhood restaurant, the kind of place real estate agents might reference at local auctions. The place was busy but a waiter saw us straight away, smilingly acknowledged us even though she was busy, and arranged a table with swift cheer. It set the right tone.

The air was thick with cross-table chatter and the appealing drift of charred, garlicky aromas. A baby sat in a highchair, discovering novel ways to eat spaghetti (and later, was rocked to sleep in a tableside pram). I got the feeling conversations begun at school drop-off or the dog park were being continued from table to table, and that if it had happened in Ivanhoe, someone would know about it here. Plus BYO! As the night went on and the pace in the open kitchen eased, I could see the chefs cleaning down with dedication interspersed with banter – I love a happy kitchen; you can taste it in the food.

The menu is an approachable mix of modern Mediterranean with a focus on seafood and steak, plus a burger and chip-heavy kids' menu. But each dish has a flourish, a textural surprise, an opportunity to say, "Ooh, that's a bit special!"

Beef croquettes are thickened with a white sauce enriched with bone marrow, giving them extra meaty depth. A souffle is powered by vintage cheddar: it's fluffy and oozy in just the right measure.

The main menu stars Ora king salmon, a premium product poached in oil to highlight its buttery flesh. The fillet is served with sweet and sour accompaniments. Smoked leek, shavings of pickled fennel, a shard of glossy fish "crackling" and bee pollen granules are mentioned on the menu but the surprise is the wacky addition of meringue wafers, prettily green, not too sugary and definitely fun.

Steaks include a popular grain-fed scotch fillet but there's also a grass-fed hanger steak, cut from the lower belly of the beast. It's a meat-lover's cut, cooked with obvious care, and it rewards application of teeth and jaw with excellent flavour.

I couldn't not order the banana and activated almond cake. The activation (soaking and dehydrating) of the nuts lends a subtle marzipan taste and the accompanying "lemon creme fraiche" is threaded with lemon myrtle, bringing an outdoorsy lift. Our waiter rhapsodised about the salted caramel popcorn tumbled over the cake but this was marred by a profusion of unpopped kernels. It's all very well to be interesting, but execution needs to back up ideas.

Chef Todd Thorburn has worked in hotels and fine dining rooms around Australia and New Zealand but he was running cafe kitchens for the St Ali group before shifting to Pigro for its January 2016 opening. He's having a great time with his simple-with-a-twist menu. Owners Mathew and Rachelle Mara have a background in retail and sales; their focus on pleasing the customer is evident in constant tweaking. They're excited about a plan to reinvent the chicken parmigiana – the mind boggles.

Pigro, Italian for "lazy", has connotations of the beatific torpor that follows a feast. It's a good name for this place which spills with bonhomie and definitely sent me home with a happy "pigro" feeling.