Julian Hills is the chef-owner of fine diner Navi. But in a life before cooking, he was an RMIT student who graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in ceramics and drawing.
“My dad was the music director at my high school and his office was right next to the ceramics department,” Hills tells Broadsheet. “After school I would have to wait a couple of hours for him to finish meetings, so I just threw pots. That’s how I got into ceramics.”
Anyone familiar with Hills’s 32-seat restaurant, set within an industrial-style space in Melbourne’s Yarraville, will know his philosophy: creating balanced tasting menus that hero local ingredients. And yes, eating at Navi is a lot about the food – but it’s also about the plates.
“I work on crockery that makes the food stand out”. Hills recalls a key lesson from university: when you’re drawing, always try to get rid of the white background. “I never want a clean plate … I want colours that suit the style of food I’m putting on it.”
Hills originally set out to make a new plate for every dish he added to the menu at Navi. And while that wasn’t a sustainable option – both time and storage space played a part in reining him in – he handcrafted a number of iconic pieces that are used in serving the multi-course menu.
Diners quickly began asking where they could buy the plates. They couldn’t. Until Hills teamed up with his university friend Bobby Gordon to create Navi Home – a Melbourne-made collaboration bringing beautiful earthenware into homes across the country.
Gordon is the son of Australian potter Robert Gordon and the director and general manager of the namesake family business. “I love working with chefs, but Julian is unique, he’s a chef and a potter. He has a very clear vision of what he wants,” Bobby says.
The Navi Home collection consists of three design families: Dockside, Marsh and Low Tide. The colour scheme and finishes are informed by the world Hills immerses himself in daily.
“The colour palette is so vernacular to [Hills’s] restaurant,” Bobby says. The vibrant red of Dockside reflects the shipping containers that shoulder Footscray Road. Low Tide and Marsh speak to shoreline ecosystems. And the textured, almost-sandy glaze used across the range is a nod to places that Hills forages. Dinner and side plates, along with small and large bowls, form the core of the range. There are also statement serving platters, alongside pinched jugs and tumbler cups.
“The whole collection is meant to be mixed and matched. You don’t have to buy a set as such … it’s all designed to make the food pop out of the plate, whether it be a salad, a fish or a roast,” Hills says.
Made from high-fired Australian clay, these hardy earthenware pieces are oven-, microwave- and dishwasher-safe. Hills and Gordon want them to become part of people’s everyday eating habits. “[The collection] has a nice, homely sense to it. It’s got to be practical for everyday life … the kids can have their cereal in the bowls,” Bobby says.
