MoVida adds a lingering spice to the Lorne menu

CELEBRATED Spanish restaurateur dipped his toes in the waters of Lorne last January with a pop-up MoVida.

The success of that fourday stint has inspired a more permanent return to the Lorne Hotel.

On the renovated ground floor of the historic hotel, Camorra is set to open the versatile year-round MoVida Lorne in the coming weeks.

Adding to his growing group of MoVida restaurants, the Lorne arm will feature three separate areas catering to a wide range of tastes and experiences.

The dining room will feature Camorra’s forward-thinking Spanish dishes, with a focus on local seafood and produce.

There will also be a bar, stocked with local wines, whiskeys and gins, where patrons can snack on tapas.

And a deli will offer a takeaway taste of MoVida, with cheese, preserved seafood, wine and tapas to-go.

Camorra has an affection for Lorne. The Geelong-raised chef began as an apprentice at Lorne’s Arab restaurant in the 1990s.

“It will be more about family feasting, big sharing style food, that’s what people want down there,” he said in July.

“I’m really looking forward to coming back to cook by the beach again.”