- The team behind Potts Point favourite The Apollo has opened new Greek restaurant, Olympus.
- The garden taverna is one of the first high-profile openings at new Redfern lifestyle precinct, Wunderlich Lane.
- Ouzo coladas, roasted milk-fed lamb, king prawns saganaki.
Sydney’s new $500 million lifestyle precinct dances on the edges of Redfern and Surry Hills.
Wunderlich Lane is part of a final wave of impressive high-profile openings bookending a transformative year for Sydney’s hospitality scene. Multi-coloured Asian noodle bar Island Radio has already opened, and now, just days after we’ve been gifted a new Greek restaurant from the stalwart team behind Potts Point legend, The Apollo.
Owners Jonathan Barthelmess and Sam Christie have carved Olympus with sketches of Greek mythology, presenting a jaw-dropping circular courtyard with a central 50-year-old bougainvillaea sitting under a retractable glass dome. Taking cues from classic Greek amphitheatres and architecture, the beautifully conceived garden taverna is unlike anything Sydney has seen before.
The fresh, coastal flavours of the Greek Islands sit central to the traditional menu, which has been directed by Head Chef Ozge Kalvo who uses her Greek and Turkish heritage to work magic in the open kitchen.
Where The Apollo sails around the Mediterranean, Olympus sticks close to Athens. Familiar favourites like barrel-aged feta and taramosalata play nicely with rice stuffed vine leaves, grilled octopus, king prawns saganaki and whole roasted milk-fed lamb. Thankfully, there’s an affordable set menu ($88) to pull it all together for bigger groups.
Christie, along with sommelier Zoe Brunton, has written a bookish wine list highlighting Mediterranean drops with a stronger focus on Greek varietals and smaller producers. Although we suspect many will favour the cocktail list award-winning bartender Matt Whiley has put together, splashing a sense of fun across the list of Ouzo coladas, whipped coffee frappes, and a Karpouzi slushy with vodka, Aperol and watermelon.
“Olympus is the taverna you dream of finding at the heart of a bustling Greek village, here in Sydney,” said Barthelmess.
“A place to settle in beneath a gliding glass canopy, shaded by a fifty-year old bougainvillea with neon pink blossoms in the centre of a bustling courtyard.”
Headline image credited to Nikki To.
Olympus
Address: Wunderlich Lane, 2 Baptist St, Redfern NSW 2016
Contact: (02) 8354 0649
Opening Hours: Monday – Tuesday (5pm – 12am); Wednesday – Sunday (12pm – 12am)
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