Greek food delights on Sydney trip

It’s unsurprising our daughters have an interest in eating out. My adult working life has been spent in one business or another catering and retailing food.

Our eldest daughter is currently working in Sydney and it’s a wonderful excuse to spend some time there. In particular, we recently dined at a Greek restaurant in Potts Point called Apollo.

Now, when I was in my mid-20s, going to Greek restaurants in Melbourne meant dips and pita bread, lamb with yoghurt sauce, moussaka and decadent desserts dripping with honey all made to share in timeless Greek tradition.

It was unusually in some dingy downstairs establishment adorned by whitewashed walls with cheap glassware and cutlery. It was probably called, “Nick’s Taverna” or “Jimmy’s” and served rough retsina and ouzo.

This was the early 80s and exciting times for diners in Melbourne experiencing communal tables and shared food for the first time (the exception being the lazy Susan at the local Chinese). Fast forward 30-odd years and my daughters’ favourite Greek restaurant in Sydney is a far cry from Jimmy’s in Richmond.

The chefs are worldrenowned Jonathan Barthelmess teamed with Longrain’s Sam Christie. Gone are the tacky and kitsch “Greek-style” accoutrements in blue and white, replaced with architect designed interiors of concrete, marble, brass and beautiful lighting.

The menu is authentic and has every dish you would expect to find in a Greek restaurant – pita bread, olives, taramsalata, saganaki, octopus, lamb, salads with tomato and feta, lots of oregano, garlic and for dessert, filo pastries soaked in honey and a new dish to me, loukoumades (these were fried doughnuts with pistachios and a yoghurt sauce; delicious). But I’m getting ahead of myself.

We ordered the saganaki and charred calamari with white beans for starters followed by slow cooked lamb and a salad of iceberg lettuce with shaved pecorino.

I adored the company, the ambience and the authenticity of the food. The resurgence of slow cooking warms the cockles of my heart and here is a Maggie Beer recipe.