The Hellenic House Project: George Calombaris opens new restaurant

Chef George Calombaris is set to open his first Melbourne venue in three years — in a space he coins the ‘Brunswick Street of Bayside’.

Celebrity chef George Calombaris is set to open his first Melbourne restaurant in three years.

The ex-Master Chef Australia host will cement his hospitality comeback when he launches Greek restaurant, The Hellenic House Project, in Highett next month.

The move will add another feather to Calombaris’s cap, who for the last two years has been overseeing the food direction at Hotel Sorrento.

The celebrity chef said his latest project was inspired by a trip to the motherland.

“The idea... was hatched on a recent family holiday to Greece. Every time I visit Greece, I get fire in my belly to get back into hospitality to feed people’s souls again,” he said.

George Calombaris will still work at Hotel Sorrento while launching his new Highett restaurant, The Hellenic House Project.. Picture: David Caird

“I’ve always wanted a place where I can happily take my friends and family and call

it home. Hence the name ‘The Hellenic House Project’.”

Calombaris has installed a raft of new talent, including ex-Grossi Florentino chef and Hotel Sorrento colleague Anthony Thalassinos who’ll lead the kitchen.

Former The Press Club and Gazi staffer, Federico Bianco, will head-up front of house.

Calombaris said The Hellenic House Project would mirror a typical Greek home with four separate spaces; including a downstairs ‘kitchen’ with takeaway souvas, hot chips and cold beer, an upstairs ‘good room’ serving homestyle ‘spitiko’ Greek cuisine, a ‘balcony’ drinking spot and ‘backyard’ decorated with lemon and olive trees to drink and snack.

“Modern Greek cuisine is in my blood, it’s what I know, and there was never any doubt that I would find my way back into ‘home’ territory,” he said.

Calombaris took over the Highett Rd shopfront from mate Phillipe Hatzikourtis, who was running his businesses Chick and Co, Luckys Bar and Cult Yoghurt out of the space until early this year.

This will be the chef’s first major hospitality gig since the infamous wages underpayment saga and the collapse of his restaurant empire Made Establishment in 2020.

But Calombaris has turned over a new leaf in recent years.

He stepped up as Hotel Sorrento’s culinary director after his friend and Australian television presenter Eddie McGuire convinced him to return to professional cooking.

George Calombaris and Sarah Todd were the hosts of food series Hungry last year. Picture: Supplied/Instagram.

The chef will continue to work at Hotel Sorrento while overseeing The Hellenic House Project.

“I love the Hotel Sorrento family and will continue to be involved. We still have a lot to achieve at Hotel Sorrento,” he said.

Last year Calombaris also returned to TV, hosting Channel 10 food show Hungry with MasterChef contestant Sarah Todd.

The Hellenic House Project opens April 18.