Rooftop wine bar experience brought to Oakleigh with Olympia
Source: NEOS KOSMOS
After finding success in Armadale with rooftop wine bar Harvie and in Camberwell with wine bar Gloria’s, owner Nicholas Flaounas alongside with his partner on this project Steven Bourgazas has brought that experience to Oakleigh.
Olympia Wine is now open above Oakleigh Market and despite its name, design and small Greek dishes, has a distinct Mediterranean feel.
A unique offering that many would not be used to seeing in the area.
“It’s a bit of a quasi-model, you walk in, order a drink, sit down, but here it’s more like a restaurant service,” Flaounas told Neos Kosmos – “It’s a table service offering, so you walk in, sit down and then order.
“You’ve got to book, and you eat as well, but it’s all about the beverage.
“A beverage focused offering, a bar with restaurant service.”
The former DJ calls it the female pub.
“The classic Australian pub is male dominated. Male focused with offerings like a parma, beer on tap, sport and gambling. They’re the focal points of a pub,” he said.
“Here the focus is on cocktails, cheese, wine and share plates (mezedakia small dishes and appetizers). Which females tend to embrace more”
Some of the dishes on offer are koulouri with tarama, saganaki croquettes, arancini balls and french fries with an mastica smashed aioli to name a few.
Of course, that’s not to say Olympia is only for females, its still a wine bar where anyone who enjoys a cocktail or wine can sit and enjoy.
While Olympia is more so an Aussie concept it still has that Greek flavour, with food and wine from all across the world, including Greece.
Being in Oakleigh, Flaounas knew there was going to be more of a Greek following this time around compared to Harvie and Gloria’s, so he has embraced that.
One of the promo videos ahead of its opening went viral, and it was a video of Flaounas’s father and his friends talking about Olympia.
Flaounas said that Oakleigh is still generally the local for a lot of Greeks, even if they don’t live nearby.
He is an example of that, growing up in Wheelers Hill but went to Oakleigh every Friday with his parents to do groceries. And since moving out, living in South Melbourne and Glen Iris he still finds himself going there weekly.
For those who are looking to go out for some drinks, they won’t have to travel to the CBD anymore where there are countless rooftop and wine bars, but can now head to Olympia.
More photos below:
The original article: belongs to NEOS KOSMOS .
