Little Picket

The venue is operated out of the Lorne Bowls Club. Much of the produce used on the menu is grown nearby on a 1.6 hectare farm. Vegetables are also sourced from a community garden across the street.^[2]

The interior of the venue is described as a 'timber clubhouse' with walls celebrating bowls heroes with bronze plaques and leaderboards. The carpet is described as a 'shmick classroom blue' with the kitchen and bar resembling school canteens.^[1]

Dishes recommended by food writers include its potato bread, house-made halloumi, beetroot galette, and the lunch meat mortadella.^[1][2] The venue also serves slices of Wallaby.^[1] Most of the wines on offer are Victorian wines, with craft beers also available created by the chef's partner David Osgood.^[2]

In The Age, food writer Besha Rodell gave the venue a rating of 15/20 writing:^[2]

'I tend to bang on a lot about how Australian restaurants should be more explicitly Australian, about how they often aim for mimicry of other places – in New York, London, Paris – rather than embrace a more home-grown identity. This doesn’t just mean the use of native ingredients: Barrett and crew have given us a lovely example of another way to celebrate our own culture.'

For the Herald Sun, food writer Kara Monssen gave the venue a rating of 16.5/20 writing:^[1]

Barrett masterfully pushes every ingredient to its absolute, pleasurable limit with poise and control. Small yet mighty, Little Picket is a loveable, exciting and wholesome addition to Lorne’s dining circuit that’s worth the drive from Melbourne – even for the salad.