There's a whole lot of wow factor at LOTI

I shouldn't be surprised by the response when I message chef Elijah Holland to check details about his new St Kilda restaurant, LOTI. "I'm just heading to the mountains," he says. Collecting wild fennel, gorse bush and mountain pepper is the aim, as well as a blast of fresh country air.

Every restaurant brings nature to the plate – that's food for you – but some kitchens are more connected to sources. Holland and his team are often a-roaming, if not the mountains, it's diving for sea urchin, rock scrambling for herbs or picking and pressing olives to make oil.

LOTI receives produce in the regular way – delivered to the back door – but the kitchen's whiteboard inventory often lists more ingredients that have been foraged or hunted than grown in poly-tunnels or fields.

There are a few reasons why. It's inspiring to get out of the kitchen cave and interesting ingredients can spur creativity. It makes environmental sense to use indigenous foods but it's even more important to cull problematic introduced species like deer and cardoon (artichoke thistle). "Eat the problem," as they say.

So far, so ethical, but the real trick is to lure diners with great dishes as well as worthy tales. Happily, LOTI draws the threads together in a lively, approachable dining experience.

The restaurant anchors the luxurious St Moritz apartment complex and its name ("Lady of the Ice") is homage to the skating rink that occupied this site between 1939 and 1981. With a bar on one side and a dining room abutting the open fire-driven kitchen, it's possible to come for snacks or an epic feast.

A bay-view setting makes sense of the seafood focus. You might eat butter-poached scampi glazed with kelp sauce, or a robust ceviche cured in desert lime and coconut then topped with a flavoured "ice rink" that's smashed by the diner.

Turbot ribs are "frenched" as though they're a lamb rack; the fish is charcoal-roasted and topped with lemony sea parsley crust. There's wow factor, sure, but dishes pay off in the eating too.

Holland's previous gig was at South Melbourne's Lume, where the food was elaborate and conceptual. There's the same detail and technique here but the mood is less earnest. I like it.

The venison is the best I've tasted. Wild sambar deer is killed with a single shot by Discovered Wildfoods in the High Country. The eye fillet is rubbed with a spice mix that includes mountain pepper and native mint; it's cooked over fire and served with zesty blackcurrant ketchup and light venison jus. It's tender and full flavoured but not gamey, a compelling amalgam of origin story and expert cooking.

Desserts balance whimsy, glee and indulgence. LOTI's "Magnum" is a layered adventure of chestnut, chocolate, caramel and native herbs mounted on a birch stick. Don't even pretend you'll share it.

LOTI is full of promise, a hopeful harbinger of a revivifying St Kilda. The seaside suburb may not have an ice rink anymore, but it does have a new restaurant that's both fascinating and fun.

Vibe: Sophisticated coastal dining

Go-to dish: Grilled wild venison fillet, turnips, juniper, mountain pepper, black currant ($55)

Drinks: Cocktails with native flavours and wines listing towards coastal varietals

Cost: $200 for two, excluding drinks