Behind e sc at EPOCHA RESTAURANT

In action, chef Angie Giannakodakis is mesmerising to watch. On set, she made us laugh and filled our bellies with good, wholesome food. And during this chat, we discovered the meaning of her restaurant, Epocha, the hidden gem located across the road from Carlton Gardens, and the significance of the silverbirch tree out the front.

What does the word Epocha mean?

It means an era, a season, an instance in time. Eleven years ago, I finished up at one of the restaurant groups I was with and I thought, ‘This is about my time, it’s about my time to do some really good work, to bring hospitality together and make sure that we’re also looking after the next generation.’

What would you like our readers to know about Epocha? Sometimes the focus of Epocha’s success is on me, but it’s the fact that I’ve surrounded myself with extremely good people with a lot of talent. They are the heroes for me.

We’re a very Melbourne restaurant and we’re located in a historical building. If you go upstairs, you’ll find the 1892 draft of the Carlton Gardens plans on the ceiling. We wanted to link time with everything we did. But it’s not just about our food, it’s not just about our service. It’s about the feeling you get when you’re here.

In 11 years we’ve also had a lot of weddings here and they come back to us every anniversary. We’ve seen their children grow up. We always wanted to be more than a neighbourhood restaurant and I believe that we achieved that.

Tell us about that stunning tree out the front of Epocha

That tree dictates our entire menu. Every time it changes, our menu changes; that could happen every three to six weeks. Right now (at the time of interview) the tree is flowering and starting to bud, which means the new vegetables are coming in now. By the time we hit early October, springtime vegetables will be right at our door. It’s how we plan our menu.

We also had a really special customer that would eat here all the time. She was ill and passed away a few years ago. We’ve scattered some of her ashes around the tree out the front. She was amazing, a real foodie. She would eat everywhere and then come here and always give me feedback, like “sharpen up the tables” or “the cutlery should be as big as the plate”. I was always appreciative of it. Then when she left us, we scattered some of her ashes around the tree out the front. It is the biggest honour to have her across the road and I always feel her intentions with me.