Just Open: Glovers Station, Elsternwick

One look at an old Tudor-style service station in Elsternwick was all it took for Jim Marinis and Mary-Jane Daffy to realise they'd found the spot for their next venture.

"We drove past and said, 'That's it'," says Marinis, who last week opened Glovers Station after selling Bentleigh's Little Tommy Tucker recently.

The original Glovers Service Station concrete emblem sits in the wall of the front courtyard, where wooden bench seating and established jacaranda trees are now installed.

Inside, the crisp, white dining room is furnished with plaid-covered banquettes and tables made by Earl Pinto design studio.

The menu, by chef and third business partner Brett Hobbs, who was with Marinis at Little Tommy Tucker and at Maze Bar & Grill before that, takes on classic dishes but gives them a contemporary edge.

You might find braised ox tongue on toast with onion puree, mustard butter and pickles, and old-school desserts like lemon posset with coconut sponge.

Dukes coffee is available as espresso and pour-over, and a liquor licence is pending.

It's open daily 7am­–5pm.

Glovers Station, 258 Glen Eira Road, Elsternwick, 9532 7765, gloversstation.com.au