Overview
An authentic Greek cafe and dessert bar is opening in Ramsgate, bringing filoxenia, the warmth of Greek hospitality, to the residents of Sydney's south.
The Good Filo will channel Thessaloniki and the ancient city's millennia-old baking traditions in their handmade delicacies. Visitors will be able to purchase lunches, desserts and Greek pastries, from moussaka to tsoureki. A strong, black coffee is recommended on the side to wash it all down.
Launching on Rocky Point Road on January 3, the store will be captained by Aki Daikos and head baker Kiriakos Metaxotos. The former might be familiar from Tella Balls, while the latter will produce all the cafe's delights by hand, following recipes that have caused generations of mouths to water.
Expect paninis, pastries, moussaka, baklava, bougatsa (made from your choice of semolina custard, cheese or a minced meat filling between layers of filo pastry) and galaktoboureko (semolina custard wrapped in a sheet of golden filo). Other delicacies include peynerli, a type of thick-based, Greek pizza first enjoyed by Greeks who lived on the Black Sea, and the tsoureki, a stringy-textured pastry with a semi-soft crust which fills the store with intense, spiced aromas when baked. Other highlights stem from inventive food hybrids, such as the croissantaboureko, which combines croissants with galaktoboureko as its name suggests; and the tsourektabouriko, which is a tsoureki with a galaktoboureko centre, all in the shape of a doughnut.
There's also daily-made fresh bread, and it pretty much goes without saying that you shouldn't leave without trying a Greek frappe. And keep an eye out for other experimental specials, such as the Greek monsieur. "There really isn't a place like it in Sydney, and it's always been my dream to bring my motherland to Sydney," says Daikos.
The Good Filo will open on January 3 at 336-342 Rocky Point Road, Ramsgate. For more information, head to the cafe's website.