Duo share the love

Anglesea’s newest restaurant Love House is certain to be a crowd-pleaser with its breathtaking ocean views, delicious Asian/South American inspired cuisine, gorgeous cocktails and overarching mission to donate meals to Australian children going hungry.

Love House, located at Anglesea SLSC clubhouse, is the newest venture of Torquay locals Tom Lapenas and Simon Paramonov.

The duo, who have more than a decade of restaurant experience, have always wanted to make a positive difference, and through Love House, Lapenas and Paramonov will not only provide an outstanding dining experience for restaurant goers, but also donate meals to people in need.

 

Love House has partnered with Australia wide organisation Eat Up and for each person who dines at the restaurant, Lapenas and Paramonov will donate a meal to the charity.

“We came across Eat Up in an article during summer in 2021 and were shocked to see that one in five Australian children in the last twelve months had been food insecure, essentially meaning they were skipping meals and not eating because they didn’t have enough money to eat,” Lapenas said.

“You obviously need food to feed your brain and not eating can really dampen the development of children, so we thought why don’t we do something about it and build a restaurant around the concept of one person dining equals one donated meal.

“Eat Up are all over Australia and do an amazing job at feeding and assisting kids in need and we are super proud to represent and to be working alongside them with this concept.”

After falling in love with the Love House space while running the Wyuna pop-up restaurant during the 2021-2022 summer period, the two co-owners knew the surf club would be the perfect location to create a food wonderland that would match the view.

 

Love House’s menu is predominately Asian/South American inspired, with Paramonov and Lapenas bringing their love of healthy and delicious food to the foreground by being “unapologetically unauthentic”.

“Simon and I have created a restaurant and a menu that is essentially born from our food experiences and what we would like to eat when we go out, which I guess makes it unauthentic,” Lapenas said.

“We’ve really taken those inspirations and our love for Asian and South American food to a level that we would want to see at a restaurant if we were to dine there.

Paramonov said the pair had “jazzed up” the menu, which includes a drunken Patron tequilla and beetroot kingfish.

“It’s certainly going to be a favourite,” he said.

“Our charred street corn, charred pork pancakes, fish and vegetarian bao and tacos and delicious house made dumplings are also menu items that we are certainly proud of.

“Most of our food is cooked over charcoal or is char-grilled and we really want to home in on that real family style dining setting, one that brings everyone together.

“We even have our own separate vegan menu, so it’s going to be a space for anyone to enjoy, not just the meat and seafood lovers.”

Paramonov said the restaurant has a particular focus on sourcing local produce for each meal.

 

Love House source chicken from Geelong and seafood from White Fisheries in Drysdale, and the pair have a close relationship with Chef’s Choice, who are a quality meat and butcher supplier.

The co-owners said it was incredibly important to find suppliers that could be counted on for their quality and terrific prices.

To match the restaurant’s terrific view and menu, Lovehouse has a list of cocktails, local beers and wines that are certain to please the crowd.

 

One of the outright favourites during the pair’s tenure at Wyuna was the delicious coconut margarita, championed by local Torquay barman Jack Nelson.

The coconut margarita is back at Love House as well as venue’s signature sweet espresso martini.

“We’ve gone down the road of classic cocktails but more elevated,” Lapenas said.

“They are real routine, session cocktails that you can sit down with your friends and enjoy over the view while listening to the live music.

“We feel we’ve got a good collection of drink options that people can enjoy if they just want

to have a drink or if they want to settle in and have an intimate dinner.”

 

As the summer sun bursts through the clouds, the venue will host acoustic music and DJ sessions with local talent on both the restaurant and bar deck.

To book in at Lovehouse, head to lovehousedining.com.au