Hot spot: The surf club restaurant on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road
CHEF MATT GERMANCHIS’S CONTEMPORARY COASTAL MENU HAS CHANGED THE CULINARY TIDE AT A SURF CLUB ON VICTORIA’S GREAT OCEAN ROAD.
“When people venture down the Great Ocean Road they love to eat here and absorb the views.”
METAPHORICALLY SPEAKING, a vast ocean of difference lies between the south-west Victorian coastal town of Anglesea and the Greek Islands. But in spirit, at least, there’s a touch of the Greek Islands in Captain Moonlite — a modern beachside eatery perched above the sand and breakers in the Anglesea Surf Lifesaving Club — which is co-owned by chef Matt Germanchis and his partner in life, general manager Gemma Gange. More than a decade ago, Matt spent a year running a waterfront taverna on the Greek Island of Skiathos — and it was career changing. “When I worked on the island in Greece I had an epiphany, I suppose, that it was a perfect example of what a seaside restaurant should be in Australia. It had that real sense of place, of cooking by the ocean, and a sense of freedom — it was a really enjoyable part of my life and I wanted to recreate it in an Australian environment,” he says. Melbourne-born Matt, 43, started his career at the Yarra Valley’s Healesville Hotel in 1999. He then worked in London and Skiathos, followed by stints in Melbourne at Movida, Pei Modern and Pandora’s Box — where he met Gemma, 34, seven years ago. Since then, he says, “We have been moving progressively towards doing this.” Gemma has strong ties to Anglesea, 114 kilometres south-west of Melbourne, where her family holidayed and she herself lived for 10 years. But finding the surf club with its clifftop views of the spectacular coastline to Point Addis and beyond was more good luck than planning. “We were never really thinking about opening in Anglesea, but we walked into the surf club and the place was run as a typical club, with red velvet seats and trestle tables,” Matt recalls. “Then we saw the amazing windows and the view… After 20 years in an industry that I had taken a lot from, we had an opportunity to give back by what we could do for the surf club and the community around us in providing a good eating house and great service.” It’s now three years since they opened the doors at Captain Moonlite, named after the notorious bushranger — “a unique Australian character and no relation to a sea captain.” Awarded a coveted chef’s hat in the Australia Good Food Guide 2019, the venue sports fresh new interiors decked out with historical surf club memorabilia and is frequented by locals and tourists alike. “When people venture down the Great Ocean Road they love to eat here and absorb the views,” Matt says. “Plus we have a lot of support from club members, locals and weekenders who come on Friday nights for a happy hour and aperitivo hour, when I’ll bring out something special from the kitchen — I feel like a publican in that sense.” However, it’s not a traditional Greek restaurant, Matt points out. Instead, Captain Moonlite offers “European coastal food”, which he describes as a mix of cultural influences, from Mediterranean (and, yes, a touch of Greece) to modern classics. “We do our own prawn and seaweed cracker that people can share, pitas and dips that are the Greek side of me, then we’ll have Bass Strait groper come in and we do that with broad beans and samphire, or whole rock flathead with spring onions and ginger,” he says. “It has that unique Australian touch to it... Australia is where we are at and we celebrate our cuisine in a unique way.” Captain Moonlite is at 100 Great Ocean Road, Anglesea, Victoria. (03) 5263 2454; captainmoonlite.com.au