Chris Alexiou, 39, and his sister Pelagia, 24, have brought their mother’s dream to life by establishing a traditional Greek cafe-eatery in Melbourne’s west.
At the 196 Somerville Road cosy fitout they offer authentic and honest flavours by mixing Hellenic tradition with Melbourne-inspired dishes.
As the name suggests, they only use olive oil and butter in their products, while they create everything from scratch with the freshest produce.
“We are adamant when it comes to quality,” Pelagia says. “We are all fussy eaters and very much into the healthy lifestyle.
“We take pride in our slow-cooked meals and not compromising our standards.”
Even though Olive Oil & Butter‘s youvetsi, keftedes, moussaka, souvlaki and strapatsada will leave you begging for more, its menu features a wide range of gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan items, perfect for Lent.
From cookies and Greek-style muesli to their mum’s famous spiral filo pastries and yemista, one will find delicious meatless options.
Olive Oil and Butter’s popular extensive range of mouth-watering spiral filo pites now includes one more crispy addition − the vegan spinach and olives pita.
If you are not fasting we suggest you go for the signature kalamboki, a dish made in heaven featuring roasted corn polenta with grilled avocado, yiyantes and romesco salsa.
Meanwhile, we revisited our favourite tiganites with pomegranate honey, mascarpone and candied walnuts, but also discovered their new indulgent and fluffy salted caramel pancakes.
If you are keen on classic Greek desserts the likes of galaktoboureko, revani, baklava, saragli and melomakarona you can twist things up with a generous scoop of mastic ice cream with red wine syrup − you won’t regret it!
There is also an extensive list of Greek beverages covering everything from soft drinks and coffee to beer, wine and liqueurs that you can enjoy both indoors and outdoors. The café also offers takeaways, as well as catering services.
For more information and updates, like Olive Oil and Butter on Facebook here: www.facebook.com/oliveoilandbutter and follow @oliveoilandbutter on Instagram.
Pitas in the making.
Yemista with lemon oven bakend potatos.
Strapatsada and sausage with feta and potatos.
Photos: Vlad Savin/ Rustica Food Photography
*****
And a flavour from their Instagram:
The salted caramel tiganites (Greek pancakes).
Mastic icecream with red wine syrup.
The kalamboki.
Moussaka straight out of the oven.
Pancakes! Need we say more?