First look: This Greek newcomer in South Melbourne cranks up the creativity
Humble Greek cooking is having a moment. But at Aegli, a Greek-born chef with experience in Michelin-starred kitchens is remixing dishes from his homeland in unexpected ways.
Waves of Greek migration over the past century have brought with them a cuisine and culture that’s now firmly embedded in the fabric of our city. Right now, a soaring number of new restaurants – chief among them Kafeneion – have trained the spotlight on Greek comfort food.
South Melbourne newcomer Aegli is taking a different tack. Traditional Greek recipes are a jumping-off point for dishes that’ll make you say, ‘what is this?’ says chef Ioannis Kasidokostas, who runs Aegli with his wife Maria Tsilfoglou. The pair have taken over the former Lume site in Coventry Street, dormant since that fine diner went into liquidation in 2023.
Kasidokostas grew up in Athens, cutting his teeth at Michelin-starred fine diners including the longstanding Spondi, where high-end, high-concept cooking is king.
“I’ve seen a glory you don’t see in tavernas [which serve] simple things like meatballs and horta,” he says. He wants to bring that glory to Melbourne.
Where the couple’s first restaurant, Sowl in Carnegie, is broadly Mediterranean, the 100-seat Aegli serves dishes you’d find in Greece, executed in ways you might not expect.
“It’s not fine dining – or [fine-dining] prices,” says Kasidokostas. “But it is fine food.”
Magiritsa is a lamb offal soup usually eaten at Easter time, which the chef has remixed with “offal of the land” – mushrooms. He combines the best Victorian-grown varieties he can find with truffles from Meteora, a mountainous part of Greece.
Another soup he’s riffing on is youvarlakia, traditionally bobbing with meatballs made of beef or pork. His seafood spin currently features Corner Inlet snapper minced in-house, rolled into orbs and slowly poached in a rich fish stock.
Extra care and consideration are given to staples such as bread and cheese. Slow-proved spelt rolls arrive warm, while house-made anthotyro cheese is double-baked to order and served with a relish of sour cherry and capers.
Familiar Greek favourites also dot the menu, from taramasalata to brined and slow-roasted lamb shoulder accompanied by house-made tzatziki.
Twists on classic desserts include the orange and filo cake portokalopita, served with an ice-cream of anthotyro cheese and olive oil. A melding of bougatsa and diples – fried, honey-dipped sheets of dough – results in a hybrid dish akin to millefeuille.
Cocktails are just as much a love letter to Greece. A spritz stars kumquat-infused vermouth from Corfu and the margarita is perfumed with aniseed from tsipouro. The wine list balances Greek imports, such as bone-dry Santorini assyrtiko, with Australian bottles.
Anyone who dined at Lume will notice most of its warm-toned fitout has been retained, from the timber floorboards to the round tables and glass-roofed atrium out back. But there have been some changes. Lemon and lime trees add a Mediterranean tone to the red-brick frontage; some internal walls have been repainted in more neutral colours; and new hanging light fixtures cast a warmer glow at night.
Dinner Tue-Sun
226 Coventry Street, South Melbourne, aegli.melbourne
Tomas Telegramma is a food, drinks and culture writer.