PERFECT CATCH
They’re getting ready to raise the roof, but they’ve already raised the bar. Chantay Logan discovers why you need to visit Hellenika now
IF you’re waiting for Hellenika’s rooftop to open before you check out the results of the popular eatery’s renovation, you’re missing out.
While that much-hyped second stage is slated for a November unveiling, they’re already serving the main event.
Originally flagging a “freshen up”, the extent of the full-blown rebuild seems to have taken even owner Simon Gloftis by surprise.
The luxury of scale lends the once-rustic restaurant a new level of sophistication, echoed from marble bar to black chandeliers.
I dine under the twinkling eye of Greek shipping magnate Ari Onassis, captured in a portrait by Shannon Doyle, the artist responsible for the lamb, chicken and rabbit that previously hung on red-brick walls.
On the food front, diners suffering saganaki, rough-cut Greek salad and baked lamb withdrawals won’t be disappointed, but there are fresh flavours to discover too.
Corfu bianco is among the new dishes paraded on pastel pink plates from Marloe Marloe ceramics. With white, firm morsels of South Australian kingfish swimming in a carb-happy pool of potatoes and herbs, it’s unadulterated comfort cooking and destined to join the Hellenika hall of fame.
We also try a home-style helping of hilopites, a traditional small, square Greek pasta with melting morsels of beef shin.
There are guaranteed to be some sneaky sticky fingers after galaktoboureko – baked filo custard drizzled with orange syrup.
The fruits of the team’s labours are equally evident in the wine collection, which has swelled to 500 labels making for a list so lengthy it requires its own table of contents.
With so much terrain to cover, you’ll make the best discoveries if you lean on the well-versed sommelier.
The service as a whole is irreproachable. Frontman Simon may be the ever-present ringmaster making the rounds of tables, but his passion filters through to his entire team.
Expect fine-dining standards tempered by a comfortable familiarity.
Continuing Hellenika’s tradition of quietly catering to A-list appetites, Amber Heard, Jason Momoa and a gaggle of movie-types slip into our solid mahogany seats minutes after we’ve devoured dessert and said our goodbyes. They receive exactly the same treatment. The new Hellenika may have a flash facade, but it hasn’t lost its heart.
Hellenika, 2235 Gold Coast Highway, Nobby Beach, open Sunday lunch from noon and dinner nightly from 5pm