Eat out: Spring into racing season with Stokehouse (and other premium picnic boxes)

Back in March, the last restaurant I ate at was the Stokehouse. I remember feeling conflicted, sucking in an eyeful of sea at a beautiful table knowing we were on the edge of an abyss. But it also felt like the right thing to do.

At the time, I reasoned that Stokehouse had weathered two major recessions and a fire since the Van Haandels opened the beachside beauty in 1989. It also represented a lot of great things I hoped would survive whatever was to come – a team that values excellence in everything from its wines to its desserts and design.

Surely, if anywhere could come back from whatever was about to happen, this well-loved institution could. I ate big and took the menu home. It was impregnated with chamomile seeds. My plant is now fully grown.

It feels equally strange and right to come full circle back to Stokehouse in a week when restaurants were supposed to at least partially reopen, and didn't.

We're heading into the industry's busiest time of the year, and instead, the best they can offer us is picnics – albeit incredibly good ones.

Entrecote made an early strike, turning into a rental company and allowing diners to take their bistro tables and chairs into Kings Domain. Neptune Food and Wine will deliver pimped-out picnic baskets replete with blankets, stemware and packs of Uno to wherever you are in Victoria Gardens and Alma Park. And clocking into the heavyweight division, Stokehouse has built outrageously luxurious boxes of premium seafood or meats for your barbecue – with bottles of Bollinger to match.

I'm not going to beat around the bush here: the Stokehouse barbecue box is $325, while the top-tier seafood feast with a bottle of Bolly and flutes is $600. That is equal to a weekly wage on the new JobKeeper.

But after a few weeks of bringing you the brilliance from soloist visa holders, it felt right to check in with the top end of town.

Stokehouse's seafood feast mostly arrives nude, to be dressed with condiments. But you also see the skill of a well-polished kitchen in the details.

Oysters (shucked, untethered, lids ajar) come with a bright cucumber mignonette, each piece of shallot and cucumber diced pinprick small. Lily-white lobster is perfectly clean, and invisibly sliced so the lobes pluck from the shell with ease, while spanner crab has been picked, dressed in its best and tucked back into the carapace to spread over fresh crumpets with creme fraiche and garlic flowers.

If you have been waiting for the right time to put it all on red and go for broke, this is it. Four giant king prawns, heads on, all other kit off, are swaddled in their own lettuce cups with a rich, dark and savoury Marie Rose sauce with the horsepower of a good bloody mary.

Neat rows of ruby red Mooloolaba tuna, plush ocean trout and kingfish from Port Lincoln come with volcanic salt and a fresh citrus dressing reminiscent of the seafood platter executive chef Jason Staudt was serving before Stokehouse closed.

And if it feels gauche to be living it large while times are tough, remember how far a dollar spent in hospitality goes.

Staudt and the team took a break when the second shutdown began. Many permanent staff were kept on, but others could not be sustained. JobKeeper has helped, but the chef is worried how much longer they can hang on if they can't get back into the swing of things soon. It was meant to be this week. Plans for the grand final were made. Staff were hired. The pandemic had other ideas.

I make no pretence that everyone can afford to crack a celebratory crab. But at this crossroads, if we don't use what we have, we may lose it. For those who can, lose the guilt. Feel free to stimulate the economy with all you've got. Restrictions or not, that's the only hope we really have for a comeback.

The lowdown

Stokehouse premium hampers ($325 for the barbecue box of wagyu and squid skewers, oysters, prawns; $475 for the seafood; and $600 including Bollinger) are available with two days' notice for the AFL grand final eve and grand final, and all racing days during the spring racing carnival.

Order via stokehouse.com.au. Delivery available for all of metro Melbourne, Mornington and Bellarine peninsulas and Geelong for a $25 fee.

Other impressive picnics

Entrecote

Tables, chairs and a linen cloth can be hired for $25 to make this a posh picnic. Boxes include tarts, baguettes, charcuterie, cheese, fresh fruits and dessert for $94.90 (for two). There is a hard lemonade kiosk if you want to up the ante. entrecote.com.au

Neptune Food & Wine

Vegan picnic $55 for two, classic picnic $65 for two, plus the option to add drinks. Includes returnable basket and rug, cutlery, plates, unbreakable glassware and wine cooler bag. Available Saturday and Sunday, bookings up to a week ahead. Order via hungryhungry.com/neptune

Morning Market

Andrew McConnell's new provedore, two doors down from Marion Wine Bar, is slinging all you need for a DIY picnic banquet, but the ready-made option, featuring Baker Bleu bread, roast Bannockburn chicken with tarragon, burrata, and prosciutto with pickled melon is hard to beat at $34 a head ($27 for a vegetarian version). Weekends only, morning.market/shop/p/picnic-basket