chefs of the Mornington Peninsula

Moke’s Michael Cole came to the Peninsula for one summer and loved the place so much he stayed and opened a restaurant.

The award-winning chef grew up in Mansfield and earned his stripes cooking in Nice, France, and Niseko, Japan, before finding his way to Flinders.

“I fell in love with the healthy lifestyle – and the access to great produce,” says Michael.

“On my way to work I drive past market gardens and farms. I forage wild mushrooms, wild garlic, and asparagus,” he says. “I call Ripe ‘n’ Ready for berries and they’re picking them for me as I’m coming down the driveway. The food I can get here is so fresh, and that’s essential for great restaurant dishes.”

A great example of Moke’s finely layered dishes, which focus on a sense of place and season, is a bowl filled with plump mussels from Flinders Mussels, harvested just a kilometre from the kitchen. These are filled with a purée of Hawke’s Farm potato blended with goat curd from Boat Shed Cheese in Mornington and dressed with a sauce flavoured with mandarins from a neighbour’s farm.

“When you are part of a community,” says Michael, “people are proud to see their produce on the menu – and we’re lucky to be able to cook with it.”