Sunday breakfast with George Calombaris
Ellie Parker 20 February 2009
Forget lazy Sunday morning breakfasts at home. George Calombaris is flying by the seat of his pants these days. When asked how he divides his time between his three Melbourne restaurants (Press Club, Maha, Hellenic Republic) and the fourth in Greece (The Belvedere Club), Calombaris just laughs and reminds me that I've forgotten his most recent project, Network Ten's forthcoming program MasterChef, in which Calombaris stars as a judge.
He's a man with a full plate, but he still has time to talk breakfast. His newest venture, Hellenic Republic, is a traditional Greek Taverna in East Brunswick. More importantly, it offers breakfast on weekends!
"Greeks don't traditionally sit down to a bacon and eggs fry up. They would have a couple of dry biscuits, fresh tomato, olives, some good cheese. As a child I actually remember eating a lot of pies for breakfast- spanakopita, tyropita, hortopita, kreatopita."
At Hellenic Republic, Calombaris has taken these classic Greek brekkie ingredients and given them a modern, Melbourne facelift. "I have enjoyed mixing the traditional with the new, for example serving spanakopita with poached eggs. Or making a spread with avocado, fresh tomato and feta and serving it on Dench Bakers toast- very Greek ingredients done in a new way".
And how has the East Bunswick breakfast establishment reacted to the non-conformist brekkie menu? "They are actually OK about it," says Calombaris, "I refuse to change the menu, so if they want a side of bacon, they're not going to get it". There are also some items on the menu that will take a bit of time to take off. "It's all about education from the floor staff to the patron. The sweet Trarhana porridge is a hard item to sell but we're not taking it off the menu. Trarhana is fermented cracked wheat and fermented milk, which is traditionally laid out onto a cloth and dried in thesun. We then cook it down with milk and sugar, like a porridge."
The crowds on the weekends would suggest that locals have already embraced Hellenic's menu with a vengeance. The weekend brunch menu also gives plentiful choice- you can keep it simple with standards like "hellenic bircher muesli" and a traditional Greek coffee frappe. Or you could do it properly and order a souvlaki and Mythos beer. In Calombaris' words, "it's never too early for souvlaki!".
Hellenic Republic is open for brunch Saturday and Sunday 9am till 4pm.