Chef Alex Xinis cooks his chickpeas overnight in rich vegetable stock. He then dresses them with lemon and olive oil. When you order them, he delivers them to your table with a shaker of white pepper. It’s a dish that pays homage to one of Athens’ best-loved tavernas. But it makes just as much sense served here in the context of a snug Melbourne wine bar – and it’s bringing people in from all over Melbourne.
Tzaki bills itself as a new-wave Athenian meze bar and café, serving wood-fired pastries and whipped coffee by morning and meze, cocktails and Greek wine from lunch into the evening. From flatbread slathered with tyrokafteri butter to wood-fired feta cheesecakes, chef Xinis’s menu is plainly one of Melbourne’s most exciting; here’s what he thinks you might like to order when you visit.
I’m hearing a lot of happy chatter about these chickpeas – what’s happening there?
They’re chickpeas like you’ve never tasted before. Cooked overnight in vegetable stock and finished with olive oil and lemon juice, they’re plump, creamy, extremely soft and delicious. We serve them with your own white pepper shaker and they’re inspired by the famous chickpeas of Diporto in Omonoia in Athens.
I’m here for a good time not a long time: what am I ordering?
I’d get the wood-fired octopus and a glass of refreshing robola made by Gentilini in Kefalonia.
What if I like tasty food but don’t eat animals?
We have so many options that are vegetarian and vegan, it’s insane. Chickpeas a la Diporto. Flatbread with tyrokafteri butter. Warm fava with pickled shallots. Smoked saganaki and peppered figs. That’s just the beginning.
Is there one dish that captures the Tzaki vibe?
I wouldn’t say it’s any one dish – the menu changes frequently – it’s more the style. Traditional Greek with a twist, but not tricked up. We use seasonal produce and modern technique and everything is cooked in a wood-fired oven. The chickpeas will never change, though.
Let’s go big. Let’s go crazy. What do we order?
The whole menu, because you can quite easily!
And to close?
Both of our current desserts. Our warm and zesty wood-fired feta cheesecake and the karydopimisu: a take on Greek walnut cake with cream chocolate and coffee. Try these with a mastika liqueur over ice.
Tzaki, 31 Ballarat St, Yarraville, open 7am-late Mon-Sat and 7am-5pm Sun, tzaki.com.au, @tzaki.tzaki