South Society

Sometimes it pays to be first. Inventor of the Post-it. The first child, so much better loved. Other times you want to let someone break the ice. Your trip through country Victoria is guaranteed to be nicer than Burke and Wills'. It's also less likely that you'll be set on fire for talking science stuff these days (merely trolled). And so it goes for restaurants. Dropping an original concept or being the first to transport an idea to a new part of town will either reward with riches or result in a long, painful slog.

They're experiencing a little of both at South Society, the new all-day eatery that's smashing the fizzing, bottled essence of inner-city dining across the prow of Mount Waverley's Pinewood shopping centre. 

Our waitress dedicates a full two minutes explaining the share-plate concept. And while that speech has become irritating in the city, the way she nervously justifies the price of the big gear (around $40) suggests the concept hasn't fully penetrated the Wave. Neither have the unprecedented queues, apparently. Outraged rants fill the internet, documenting half-hour waits on Saturday mornings when this cafe-diner hybrid makes a killing on broad-bean smash and St Ali single origin coffee. The humanity. 

Little here will be unfamiliar to anyone who's eaten in Melbourne in the past three years. It's a fitout so box-ticking it could have been assembled from IKEA's "Melbourne Cafe" collection – buffed concrete, school chairs, big windows and pot plant racks.

The menu rings bells too – bar-snacky stuff such as calamari and crab sliders, with bigger things like slow-cooked lamb haunches and roughage-filled salads that cater to the hottest intolerances of now. What matters is that young chef Auriele Ducasse is doing them well. 

Really well, in the case of the lamb ribs, miso-marinated then braised and oven-finished, making them crisp of skin, devoid of flabby fat, resistant to the tooth and therefore some of the best versions around. 

A puffy wedge of baked haloumi is one of the many dishes served in a skillet and a little salt-heavy, even with the sharp peach relish for cut-through. The ultra-soft calamari, however, is excellent. Barely battered and flash-fried, it's like eating deep-fried udon of the sea, the dish only suffering slightly from the aggressively sheepy feta in its herb and kohlrabi side salad. 

There's nothing to fault about a charry, sticky spatchcocked hen-ette, sliced up and propped on corn three ways - a buttery puree, just-cooked kernels in a citrussy salsa rubble and grilled baby corn. It all mixes with a deeply caramelised cooking liquor packing a little heat to make a sweet, sharp and roasty dish you could only hope to find between your optometrist and bank. 

In some ways this place is riding trends so hard it's out-hipstering the inner north. See the Ottolenghi-does-LA salad of roasted cauliflower, shredded kale and raisins, supercharged with tahini. It's rich and fresh and great either as a sturdy vegetarian option or a side.  There's also the "who knew?" win of the satin-smooth coconut creme brulee with audible crack and a poached rhubarb base that makes us scrape the bowl's glaze. It's the sort of dish you'd expect to find flouncing around in Fitzroy, being pimped by someone with deeply cultured apathy and a couture camel toe. 

Instead it's here and comes with friendly, if very low-key service, lighting that's a little too bright and a Hottest 100 soundtrack that could use a rethink. 

The room also  feels more cafe-at-night than restaurant, but it wouldn't take much to soften things up - investing in some shades for the chill-seeping windows; easing up on the club bangers at dinner. Nor to continue honing the simple Australian wine and beer list. They're already making the right noises there, with plans to go as local as possible on both counts.

Whether you would cross town for it depends on how much you like cruising down Kingsway pumping Smooth FM. If you answered: "heaps", go nuts. But it's more a local story. Call it a new chapter in the Mount Waverley book of casual dining fun.

THE TAKEAWAY
Pro tip Their cocktails aren't bad, and $13.
Like this? Brunch then booze at Archie's All Day in Fitzroy, 189 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy
Go-to dish Coconut and rhubarb creme brulee ($13)