‘Local’ in Cherokee, Navi is the new venue from the award-winning, ex-Paringa Estate chef Julian Hills, named in ode to his American heritage. The venue, based in Victoria’s Yarraville, is a part of a booming flock of design and food additions to the Melbourne scene and is Hills’ first solo venture. The 25-seat Navi will be set within an industrial space, offer contemporary tasting menus and small plates, served on ceramics hand-made by Hills himself.

Hills grew up on a 40-acre hobby farm in Victoria’s Strzelecki Ranges, foraging, fishing, and hunting. His career has seen him work stints at Blush Food Room, The European, Middle Brighton Baths and the Courthouse Hotel, before settling down at the Mornington Peninsula’s Paringa Estate, where he has been head chef for the past five years. Hills is evidently a man of many talents; the graduate of Fine Arts in ceramics and drawing, Hill has made a bounty of original plates and tableware for use in the restaurant.

“When I create a dish, it always means something,” says Hills of his cooking mantra. “There is always a philosophy behind how that dish came together and what it means; a unity in the way the elements of the dish are grown, produced and gathered.” Expect dishes to include the likes of Mead, pine and capriole; Smoked bonito aged in beeswax, sea vegetables, roast bone and honey dashi; Black garlic and Brook trout roe macaron; and hand-dived scallop, nasturtium and yeast.

“I’m inspired by European cuisine, I’m inspired by Japanese cuisine. I’m inspired by standing in a paddock and looking at edible weeds. I’m inspired by landscape, I’m inspired by art,” says Hills. “Anything that piques my interest; I’ll dive right in and try to come up with an outcome on a plate. I spend 24/7 thinking about food. I dream about it.”

Navi sits at 83B Gamon Street, Yarraville, restaurantnavi.com.au.