I was disappointed when I learned several months ago that The Press Club was closing down. The restaurant was somewhat of an institution in Melbourne for high end business lunches, long before George Calombaris became a household name and I never had the fortune of going!
Recently I was happy to learn though that while The Press Club had closed its Flinders Street door, a new door had opened to “Gazi” whose door now enters on the Exhibition side of the same restaurant space. Rumoured to be Greek Street food, I booked a table for a recent visit from Mum & Dad in the hopes that we could still have the Calombaris experience.
And that we did at Gazi – as we watched George himself running the kitchen and the floor as he saw fit. The novelty factor was pretty fantastic with the recently trimmed down Calombaris in his chef whites schmoozing waiters, snapping photos with diners and even setting places on tables. If that wasn’t enough,
we even spotted him chatting to Adriano Zumbo who’s having a meal with a friend.
That aside the restaurant impress me the minute I walk in. The room is spacious and quirky with upside down terracotta pots hanging from the ceiling creating a wave like feature.
Seating at the bar and kitchen counter overlooks rotisserie style pork belly and chicken as we have a drink before our sitting. The menu is designed to share and offers a $69 10 course tasting menu which I would definitely go for if I was feeling hungrier since everything looks amazing! The price of each menu item is extremely reasonable and the atmosphere is anything but stuffy so it could definitely be a place to frequent, not just special occasions.
We order a couple of starters (sardines, lamb meatballs & taramasalata – all are extraordinary and not nearly as simple as they sound) and then a Souvlakia each which is reflective of the ‘street food’ element of the restaurant. An upmarket version of the Greek classic, the Souvlakia comes complete with chips and a paper wrapping but the flavour is beautiful! We comment that you could actually go there, have one or two Souvlaki and be happy. And at only $12 a pop, it’d be a cheap date!
We finish our meal and I’m totally satisfied but not in a sickening kind of way despite quite a lot of bread throughout the meal. As such I figure we have to try one of the amazing desserts which are on a tray at the entrance of the restaurant. A banana… something… I actually have no idea what it was but it came in a jar and when the lid was removed let out a billow of smoke which was awesome. The smoky flavour continued in the dessert and it was incredible.
We leave the restaurant and pass George who thanks us and wishes us a great night. I’ll definitely be going back, with or without the celebrity siting.
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