Bar Sophia is a brand-new Athenian-inspired wine bar from the crew behind Marameo and Il Bàcaro. It just landed in Glen Iris, and the neighbourhood can’t get enough of its produce-led menu, exceptional Greek wine list, and friendly service by industry veterans.
Here’s co-owner Michael Badr with the inside word.
Greek food is having a real moment here in Melbourne. Why do you think that is?
For years, Melburnians’ understanding of Greek food was mostly just taverna classics or street eats. Athens is one of the most exciting food cities in the world right now, and I think people here are really excited to see that new wave of Greek hospitality coming to Australia. There’s a refined side to Greek cuisine, and it’s great to see restaurants putting their own spin on it and helping to broaden that understanding.
What does that Athenian inspiration translate to at Bar Sophia on the table?
Lots of dishes to share, made using the freshest vegetables and seafood and vegetables we can source locally. Everything is cooked in the woodfire and treated with a light touch, often just with good-quality olive oil, a hit of citrus, and the chef’s herbs of choice. Our bar manager Steve Kimonides has clocked up over 13,000km of travel to vineyards across mainland Greece, so there are plenty of wines and spirits to match every mood and moment too.
Which dish best captures the Bar Sophia vibe?
Our overnight braised lamb chops. Slow cooked for 12 hours in our wood-fired oven at 100°C, they’re super tender and juicy, with a pleasant accent of smoke.
I’m here for a good time, not a long time.
Chef Nick Deligiannis’s whipped cod roe is off the charts, best paired with the whey flatbread. Add house-made halloumi, raw snapper dressed with citrus and tomato, and a few wood-fired king prawns with tarama and thyme butter. To drink, you can’t go wrong with a glass of malagousia.
Got anything light and fresh?
Most of our food is light and fresh. Go for the grilled fish (which changes daily) served with lemon and chives, and grab an iceberg salad with dill and cucumber on the side.
And what if we like tasty food but don’t eat animals?
Start with the woodfire flatbread topped with kefalotyri, wild garlic and oregano, along with the Ramarro Farm heirloom tomatoes in assyrtiko vinegar. We also do an excellent vegetarian version of the baked orzo dish (our take on a giouvetsi) – currently it’s served with roasted green peppers, leek, saffron, and mizithra.
What if we really want to go big and go crazy. What have you got for us?
If you’re coming in with a table of four, you can easily work your way through the entire menu and order some of our daily specials too. Drinks-wise, begin with an ouzo, then work through the wine list: start with crisp, fresh assyrtiko from Santorini, move to the textural savatiano from Attica, and finish with xinomavro from Macedonia.
And to close?
Our doughnuts are a customer favourite. They’re fried golden, tossed in cinnamon sugar, drizzled in an olive oil-based salted caramel, and finished with ice-cream and freshly grated walnuts.
Bar Sophia, 161 Burke Rd, Glen Iris, 12 noon-10pm Tues-Sun, barsophia.com.au, @barsophia.melbourne