erched atop her stacked milk crates, Sarah Curwen-Walker peeks quietly out from behind piles of fresh seasonal produce and a single line of thick-spined cookbooks. She’s immersed in what is her newly opened grocery store; a place that takes the elements and essence of a good farmers market and scales it down to an accessible, inner city shopping experience.

A large timber table is the centrepiece of the otherwise minimalist store. Positioned in the middle of an otherwise tiny, vacant room, it evidences Curwen-Walker’s consideration of the value of space and happily resists the temptation to over-decorate and emphasise an all-too-typical idyllic farmhouse feel. Rather, our attention is drawn to lighting and the central focus of the room, offering a balance between the handmade aesthetics of the table, the produce adorning it and the contemporary, uncluttered space that surrounds.

There’s nothing in the way of sterile plastic packaging; recycled wooden crates, rolled down paper bags, baskets and vintage crockery house produce sourced locally at wholesale markets or direct from farmers.

Highlighting the communal and social attributes of shopping, St Dot’s proves humble, wholesome and admittedly rather cute. The same can even be said for owner, Curwen-Walker, who indulges in the delight of sharing ideas with her customers, forever thumbing her way through the pages of well-read cookbooks to match you with a suitable take-home recipe.

St Dot’s
234 High Street
(03) 9489 8479

Hours
Mon to Fri 10am–7pm
Sat to Sun 10am–6pm