Style Profile: Flossy
For this Style Profile, Dilettante founder and director Diana sits down with her long-time friend and creative collaborator Flossy, the force behind Lovemore Fermentary. Known for her intuitive approach to fermentation, Flossy has prepared soulful, seasonal dinners for Dilettante’s salon evenings—each one a sensorial experience woven with intention, memory, and artistry. Based in the Northern Rivers, Flossy speaks to Diana about the beginnings of her journey, the rhythms of life and cooking in Lismore, her latest project Take Care, and the way food, fashion, and personal ritual are intimately connected.
Song for the Mute Brown Faux Leather Appliqué Jacket. Lemaire Dark Espresso Belted Pants.
Can you tell us how your journey into fermentation and cooking began? Was there a particular moment or meal that sparked it all?
I grew up in Coral Bay, a tiny place on the magical Ningaloo coastline. There was really nothing there than just a couple of caravan parks, some fishing boats, and a bakery. My parents owned the only pub within 150 km, so I guess being self-made and running a small business centred around food, drinks and togetherness was what I was brought up on.
I spent most of my days drinking Shirley Temples, eating ice cream and sitting by the deep fryer eating all the crispy bits that didn’t make it into the fish and chip baskets. Because we lived so remotely, all our food was trucked in from far away, mostly frozen. Being homeschooled by very busy parents in a place without shops or restaurants gave me a lot of independence. I had to be creative if I wanted to eat something interesting, so I’d cook myself random little meals using whatever canned, frozen, or packaged things we had, so if I wanted something, I kind of had to figure it out myself.
Sporadically we would get produce from friends who had plantations and stations nearby in the Gascoyne. It was such a special treat when they’d bring boxes of the most delicious mangoes and bananas. we made truckloads of sweet tomato relish to preserve the seasonal haul. I have the most vivid, joyful memory of eating that relish on ham sandwiches all summer. The contrast of it against the salty ham and cold buttered white bread was perfect. I've always been inspired by the ritual satisfaction of that sandwich.
I learnt Fermentation later. I read a book by Sandor Katz in my early twenties. At the time, I was in Perth studying nutrition, and the health benefits really piqued my interest. I was trying to work on my gut health and rewire my hormones and mental health from a holistic, whole-food foundation. I was also working in hospitality and surrounded by other chefs, so there was always an abundance of leftover produce from restaurants and supermarkets. Fermenting became a creative way to bring all those things together.
Lovemore Fermentary is such a sensory, grounded project. How does the place you live shape what you make and how you live day to day?
Where I live now in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales couldn’t be more opposite to the desert of WA. Produce grows wildly and abundantly in the subtropical climate. Working for myself with seasonal produce forces me to be present on all levels. The process is controlled by the cosmic cycles and chaos of the environment. I love that it’s such a privilege and a challenge to work for myself and the goddess herself, Nature. The region has some incredible farmers. I’ve dabbled in growing, but it’s not my skill. I once heard that people are either growers or makers and I’m definitely the latter.
There’s a farmers’ market on most days of the week here. They remind me of the markets in France and Morocco. I started my business making pickles and fermented things at home and had a weekly stall. When I’m at the market I get to buy directly from the people growing. I always make seasonal products based on what I’m drawn to and what’s abundant, intuitively putting flavours together.
I work at my own pace from my production space at home in the hills. All of my ferments are made by hand. The produce is always so colourful and beautiful. It's art in itself. While I draw from traditional fermentation methods from other cultures, most of what I make is an experiment, dependent on the weather, the microbes in the air, the produce I can get my hands on, and my mood, and it's been learnt through trials and practice.
Acne Studios Hazel Beige Knit Cardigan and Golden Brown Satin Wrap Skirt.
Your food feels deeply intuitive and intimate. What inspires your recipes—are there certain memories, ingredients, or rituals you return to often?
I think the ritual is always pleasure and care. I’m always the calmest and happiest when I’m cooking something for myself or my loves. Having access to beautiful produce, and the time to do it, feels like the greatest privilege and I always want to savour it, figuratively and metaphorically eating it up and having it dribble down my chin. I want myself and my loved ones to feel comforted, cared for and enriched through food so I’m always striving for that effect, and I just don’t like to miss any opportunities for pleasure.
I have really epic memories of food as a kid. It was an Aussie dream, like kind of sacramental feasting. Kangaroo tail stew cooked on the fire, the same pot eaten from and added to for days. Fishing with my dad in his dinghy and catching squid off the beach that we’d cook simply with butter, salt, pepper, and lemon straight from the BBQ, eaten with our hands, burning our tongues because we couldn’t wait.
I’m inspired by Mediterranean diets the most. Maybe I lived there in a past life. I have such mob wife tendencies. I love fruits and vegetables, herbs, dairy, olive oil, citrus, well-raised grass-fed meat, simple ingredients that are already so delicious in their natural form. Everything I cook seems to have lemon, red onion, and chilli in it, so I guess those are my holy trinity.
I’m a tragic for food books and shows, I devour it all and endlessly. I love Nigella Lawson she is so fabulously herself! Also, chatting with my friends about what they’re cooking and eating, and sharing with each other because those conversations and meals are always the best.
My kitchen is stashed full of dried beans, pasta, peppery olive oil, anchovies, sardines, guanciale, prosciutto, good tinned tomatoes, lemons from my tree, some hearty herbs, fresh cheeses, olives, pickles and ferments. All those things can make something very delicious simply.
When preparing a meal for something like a Dilettante Salon dinner, how do you think about storytelling through food?
Dilettante’s ethos inspires this process so deeply. It always builds around highlighting beauty in its most essential form. It’s the produce, the season, the vision for the evening and how we want people to feel when they immerse themselves in the evening that shape the store. I tell the story backwards. For the winter immunity salon, Linda’s brother supplied us with a list of stunning biodynamic produce that he had grown for us to use on the night, so we worshipped those ingredients. Diana, your garden is full of medicinal herbs and I brought some dried rosella with gold leaf over on the plane with me, and the rest we sourced from the Perth institutions, The Re Store and Torre Butchers.
The chicest elegance comes from just a few special elements. It’s accentuated by the balance, complement and contrast, my favourite dish of the evening was just that. Fresh persimmon, stracciatella, white Ortiz anchovy, and white onion. It’s not technically fancy, just gorgeously composed.
I want food to feel like the entire evening: warm and intentional, so i think the food should sit subtly between it all. The atmosphere of Dilettante, the music, the clothes, the company, the conversation, the wine, the Astier ceramics, the tablescapes. Everything adorning each other! I’m romantic, it has to feel heartfelt, intentional, respectful, and collaborative.
Song for the Mute Beige Embroidered Basic Tank, Acne Studios Traffic Sand Beige 1981 Jeans, Guidi Beige 792ZI Metal Heel Derby.
Your work often sits at the intersection of food, art, and community. Can you tell us a bit about your new project with Lismore Art Gallery and what inspires you?
Take Care is a space I’ve just opened with Nigel Park at Lismore Regional Art Gallery. Nigel was a regular at my previous café. He opened a really cool vegan restaurant, Hermosa Punado, around the same time. I loved it. His restaurant felt like dining in his living room, warm, kooky, and stylish.
We’ve worked together before, and our dynamic feels so supportive, respectful and inspired. We both care about making food in a way that’s kind of radical and risky from a business perspective. We honour food in its natural, life-giving state and we like experimenting.
The gallery was redesigned and rebuilt after the Lismore floods. It backs onto a large grassy community hub, and being in the centre of a town that’s experienced such shared trauma is heavy and sometimes uniquely beautiful. We are in a scene together that encapsulate so many different people all together in the sun doing different things. It’s a hard thing to articulate but there is a sweet, weird, kindredness to it. The gallery has a very inclusive program and its nice be collaborating within a space that offers that.
We trade as a café that focuses on colourful sustenance and host regular dining events, individually and with the gallery. We also work with other artists like Immortal Soil, Kate Stroud, and Elevator Ari on independent food projects.
Fermentation requires patience, care, and trust in the unseen—do those same principles show up in how you move through the world?
Wow, that’s such a beautiful way to frame it and yes, yes, yes. Care and trust, fully. Patience, I’m only just learning that as I get older.
I’m grateful to be a driven person, but I’ve had to accept I’m not in control of the timeline. That’s been a settling spiral. I’ve always felt familiar with the unknown and somehow held by my bravery. Fermentation can be a sweet/ salty/ sour reflection of what you can and can’t control. Turning something into something new, kind of like how food breaks down to compost that creates rich, robust, fertile material that makes you stronger and more interesting. You can have an idea of what you’ll get from what you put in, but ultimately, it’s a wild process. You have to throw your hands up and give it to God. It’s very unprocessed and cool so yes kind of like my personality. Hah!
MM6 Maison Margiela Black Frayed Denim Jacket, Acne Studios Black Logo Tape Suit Trousers.
What do you find yourself living in, wardrobe-wise? Does your style shift between pickling at home, cooking at the café, selling at the market, and your free time?
At the market, it's lots of tracksuit sets. I have a grey Acne Studios two-piece from Dilettante and an MM6 hoodie I’ve been living in, paired with Acne cargos or Realtree pants. Shoes need to be waterproof, so I’m always in my Salomons or camo Crocs and I always have my Pleats Please bum bag strapped on.
At the café, when I’m cooking a lot, I stick to basic ribbed racerback singlets. If I’m on the floor, doing admin, or working an event, I love a preppy little pleated skirt or Issey trousers, something Vivienne Westwood or a graphic tee. I also love layered pieces from Baserange and Adidas track pants. Right now, I’m living in a pair of Martine Rose x Clarks pony hair slides. There’s really something about having the right support when you’re on your feet all day and still having steeze.
In my free time, my style is comfy, femme and flamboyant. I like mixing contrasting and unexpected items. I’m leaning into silk and wool pieces and pairing them with something a bit extra, depending on what mood I’m in.
My friend Selena sources amazing vintage pieces. I love getting things from her and mixing those in. I have a pair of fluffy leopard print Margiela mules that are very fun. I also love my Song for the Mute opticals, I got my prescription put in them with grey transition lenses. They feel like jewellery with their ornate shape and chain.
Tabis all the time! The white ballet flats go with everything, the flip flops are perfect with a bikini or jeans, and the loafers are my go-to if I want to be sleek and sexy. For evenings, I always come back to a very dear pair of classic black round-heeled boots that you brought home from Paris for me about 12 years ago.
Acne Studios Hazel Beige Knit Cardigan, Golden Brown Satin Wrap Skirt, and Maison Margiela Black Tabi Pumps. MM6 Maison Margiela Rust Brown Silk Shirt, Uma Wang Brown Anaya Dress, Jean-François Mimilla Jet Bead Double Chain Necklace.
I have such fond memories of being at your home, back in our early twenties, and you would always be preparing these gorgeous meals for us. So it felt like a natural transition for you to move into food as your career. Has making a business out of your passion changed your love for food and feeding people?
Food and friendships are two of my most cherished things! I’m lucky that my Dad always encouraged me to only do what made me happy, to work hard, and to make my own way and not to worry about what other people thought, as long as it had good intention. That gave me the confidence to make food my career. It hasn’t changed anything, it’s just deepened my love for the art of hospitality. The cosiness of a meal together at home is what I adore, I’ll never tire of cooking for myself or my loves.
This is the second time we have collaborated at Dilettante together. How have you found the process and what have you enjoyed most?
The process has been deeply supportive and inspiring, I’ve had so much fun being involved. It’s hard to whittle it down to just one thing! I would have to say though the reverence and respect for creating with intent is what I’ve enjoyed most.
The new Café Astier is so gorgeous. You’ve created it with such phenomenal vision, you’re tender and stylish and an absolute boss. Your whole team is full of angels. Nothing is pretentious. Seeing it all come together and witnessing the appreciation everyone feels for what’s been created on the night, the immersion into that world is such a special thing to be a part of. I feel so honoured to be invited in. Thank you for having me.
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