TV personality, restaurateur and author George Calombaris’ brain child, Oh My Greek Week (OMGW), is returning in 2016 and will feature some of the most famous Greek chefs from Australia and around the world, coming together in Melbourne for a week of culinary creation and cross collaboration. Now in its second year, the event has grown massively, inviting even more Greek culinary minds to come together and present a epic feast of different Hellenic styles and traditions.

From Monday 21 to Saturday 26 November, OMG Week will become a platform for Stelios Parliaros, Yiannis Baxevanis, Alexandros Tsiotinis, Gikas Xenakis, Maria Loi and Georgianna Haliakaki to wow Australia’s toughest foodies. The 2016 version features a series of special events including dinners, cooking demonstrations, a recreation of an ancient Greek dinner, pop-up restaurants, mixology masterclasses and the annual Oh My Greek Week Gala dinner, with a special concert by famous singer and songwriter Michalis Hatzigiannis.

Neos Kosmos had a chat with George Calombaris about the huge response the event has had already and his bold future aspirations, or should we say goals?

“I’m super excited OMGW is growing,” he says. “Last year it kicked off for the first time and we started small, just sticking our toes into the bath, so to speak, to see how people would react to it. They loved it and this year it’s massive.”

What should Melburnians look forward to this year?
We are bringing an incredible array of chefs, everyone from the best restaurants in Greece at the moment, being Funky Gourmet − two stars in the Michelin − the guys from The Clumsies, who are among the top 20 bars in the world. Michelin- starred Aleria, Maria Loi from New York and many more.

My mates Stelios Parliaros and Christoforos Peskias from last year are coming again. Parliaros is the most famous pastry chef in Greece and Peskias one of the best chefs. We owe a lot to these two guys and I’ve extended my invitation to show them my respect. We have some real diversity this year. I’m also bringing on my good mate, Michalis Hatzigiannis. A first step, as we want this to grow from food to mixology to musicians and artists. This OMG Week for me is a bit like walking into the most mind-blowing national gallery. You will see paintings that you’ll instantly love, some others will surprise you while there will also be a couple to take you aback and have you say “Why on earth would he do that?”.

I look back, with respect to ancient Greece, and that’s how Hellenes thought. They never looked at things one-dimensionally but objectively, and that’s what I’m trying to do. Move forward with new vigour, new hope, to new horizons.

How did you come across all these people from the food industry and manage to create strong friendships and collaborations?
They people are the driving forces of modern Hellenic cuisine. I met all those emerging chefs and creatives being in Greece every year. I’m there seven weeks every year at least and my hard work is done on my feet. I go to Athens and visit several places across the country and I put my hand out there.

I go around and I meet amazing professionals because my belief is simple: if I surround myself with more Hellenic hospitality people then we become more powerful, stronger as a wider community. The minute we let ourselves be pigeonholed thinking we are doing the only real thing in our own backyards, we become irrelevant.

Was combining several diverse perspectives and flavours challenging, given that most of the people you have invited have a completely different approach when it comes to food?
I curate the whole thing. I sit down with my team here in Melbourne and we try to figure out what’s the best combination. I’m not saying this out of arrogance or ignorance, I’m open to everything and my team, even though none of them are Greek, have been with me for a very long time and share my dream. They have been in Greece with me, exploring, testing, and learning. I have a flow of members of my staff to Greece and they have spent time working at different places. So, they have the know-how to pull this off and create something great.

For example, Maria Loi from New York, her food is so different to what the guys from Funky Gourmet or Aleria do but that’s great. I want diversity, I don’t want it to be just focused towards high-end Greek food. It needs to have intricacy, it needs to have colour, be different, and it needs to show the totally different flavours of Hellenic cuisine.

What does the support towards the event mean to you?
For a little restaurant group like myself and my team, this is a huge investment in what I believe is a real up-to-date modern Hellenic cultural event that truly reflects what Hellenism is all about. It’s an exciting week to celebrate all things Hellene but it’s not just about being Greek.

Has the response come mainly from the Greek community?
The majority of the people who are booked in for this are non-Greek. The non-Greek love it. It’s been widely accepted by the wider Australian community. We have made it accessible to them: no big Greek long words. To be a Hellene is not just to talk Greek.

For you, what is the definition of being Greek?
A Hellene. My theories are very simple. To be a Hellene is not to walk around saying that “I’m Greek”. To be a Hellene is not to talk it. It’s to do it. To have action. This isn’t about the past. I know that we invented philosophy and mathematics, everyone knows, but that’s done. We need to respect the past but look into the future. Use it as an example, as without the past we don’t have a future. However, if all we ever do is talk about it and not seize the present we don’t get anywhere. We need to create more incredible memories, make progress ourselves, be the creatives and inventors that we look up to and not rest on our laurels.

How are you translating this idea of yours into action?
Having said that, I feel, it is my responsibility as someone who is proud to be Hellene and very patriotic to put my money where my mouth is. I realised this idea of bringing Greek cuisine masterminds together through OMGW in 2015, and right now we have 24 flights and 110 room nights; quite a big outlay. We are nearly at capacity with all the events. I want to do this because I know this is going to grow into something special. What’s best is that we are teaching non-Greeks what being Greek is all about. That’s the most beautiful thing for me and that’s where I’m rooted and super proud and I honestly can’t wait for Monday to come.

How do you aspire that OMGW will grow in the future?
This is an exciting time. Name a festival in the world where you can bring together such an array of chefs from Greece and America and obviously, here in Australia. This is the only one. We, Made Establishment, want to have ownership over this. We want to own this space that’s going to grow outside of food and into music, art. Take some of the best fashion designers in the world and hairdressers for example. A great number are Greek and they are not all based in Greece; we are going to bring them together. Like I said “not just one dimension”, we are going to create a platform. This is my dream.

I wasn’t born in Greece, I’m an Aussie boy, but I owe this country a lot and this is me now starting to give back. It is also my intention to tell all the non-Greeks out there that we are proud, we are good, we are leaders. We can be this, we can be strong, we unite, we pull together.

For more information and bookings, log on to omgweek.com.au