A culinary trip down memory lane to find the world's best souvlaki at Little Athens - old school souvlaki.
Athenian born executive chef Yiannis Kasidokostas was seven years old when his father took him to Monastiraki Square, in the heart of Athens, for lunch. It was there, at the iconic restaurants that have been catering for Athenians and tourists for decades, that he had his first ‘dikano’ (double-barrelled) lamb kebab pita wrap.
He still remembers it with more than a little dose of nostalgia, the warm pitta wrapped around a generous amount of juicy meat, the tanginess of the tzatziki-and-onion combo balanced out by the sweetness of a hearty tomato, and a dash of spicy tomato sauce, the secret ingredient that binds everything together.
Whilst one might still expect to find the best souvlaki in Athens as Yiannis did, it would seem that these days you don't have to travel that far. Fast forward three decades and the chef is recreating the taste of his childhood in ‘Little Athens’, the new souvlaki restaurant he has opened in Carnegie, Melbourne, just a few doors down from his acclaimed fine dining establishment, SOWL.
"I just missed a nice souvlaki"
Kasidokostas's ‘Little Athens’, offers an authentic taste of Greece right in the heart of Carnegie. It is here that you will now also find the ‘dikano’ on the menu --- and if you order it he will know that you are ready to bond with him over the experience.
‘Little Athens’; it is a very personal project for Yiannis Kasidokostas’- a culinary trip down memory lane, back to the tastes of his childhood, which is precisely what makes it different to every other souvlaki restaurant in Melbourne.
“I just missed a nice souvlaki,” he says, explaining want made him want to pursue this endeavour instead of resting on his fine-dining laurels.
‘Little Athens’ is a tribute to this humble, honest Greek culinary icon, the souvlaki, in an establishment where everything is made in house. From freshly cut vegetables daily to overnight brining the meat for gyros, there are no bought in sauces here. On the contrary, the sauce is made on site from the best tomatoes, according to Kasidokostas, “the ugly ones everyone hates to look but that make the best sauce that everyone loves when they taste it.”
Yiannis Kasidokostas knows the traditional, Athenian souvlaki– he learned from the best. “I was trained by cooks who worked at ‘Thanasis Kebab’ and in the Monastiraki mainstays for years before opening their own restaurants, far away from the touristy parts of Athens, in working-class neighbourhoods, where people know exactly what they want and demand the highest value for money.”
He was barely out of the cooking and hospitality school of Athens (sister school of Lyon) when he started working by their side. “At first, I thought the job was beneath a young cook like me, trained to make classic haute cuisine dishes. But I can assure you, working at the souvlaki assembly line, baking pitas, was a great learning experience; it made me value the military-style discipline it takes to produce large quantities of the same food, maintaining the same taste and quality.”
Importantly, it was during this time that Yannis learned the importance of fresh ingredients, something that guides him to this day. “When you work with such a limited number of elements, it is imperative that they are all of top quality, for even the slightest compromise is a risk,” he says. And when he was promoted from pitas to tzatziki preparation, he applied the principles of French pâtisserie to the creamy yogurt, cucumber, and garlic dip and customers took notice.
‘Little Athens’ is a tribute to this humble, honest Greek culinary icon - the souvlaki.
It is little things like that which make Yiannis Kasidokostas who he is; a dedicated chef who is always striving for excellence and honesty; and it is who he is that makes ‘Little Athens’ the word-of-mouth success it is, with people flocking from all parts of Melbourne to Carnegie, to get a taste of succulent pork gyros, juicy, marinated chicken skewers – and the staple that started it all - the lamb kebab.
Lamb kebab or lamb kebab souvlaki is the lamb product you will find all around the Mediterranean region because as Yiannis explains, “There is a particular, very important reason for our own wellbeing to mince the lamb fat along with the tender parts of the lamb.”
His reasons, he says, may sound too technical at first but he assures that it all makes sense after just one bite. “The lamb fat starts rendering between the ideal temperature of 79 degrees to 100 degrees Celsius,” says Yannis, “but if it is whole piece of fat it needs hours of cooking below 100 degrees, something that doesn’t apply when we are cooking on the grill or more specifically over charcoal where the temperatures can reach 220-280 degrees.
"If the lamb fat is minced it renders quicker almost instantly even in high temperatures leaving the clean meat moisturised and tender ready to impress the most fussy palette. As per the Mediterranean diet and food culture we should be eating something only if it is beneficial for our health.”
For Yiannis Kasidokostas, souvlaki is a timeless tradition that dates back further in time than we can trace. "Any food can become a trend that fluctuates in popularity, but not this classic staple,” he says. “The souvlaki originates from the small streets of Athens, where for over 150 years, people have shared their love through a simple handful of ingredients."
Little Athens - old-school souvlaki:
120 Koornang Rd, Carnegie VIC 3163
Read more about Chef Yiannis Kasidokostas:
LAMB OF THE GODS – SOWL Restaurant’s Heavenly Winter Warmer
Chef Yiannis Kasidokostas: A Journey of Passion and Philoxenia
