Euro-summer comes to Cronulla with Athenian wine bar Homer

Sydney Morning Herald

3 days ago

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The lo-fi cool of the Athenian wine scene is coming to Cronulla with the opening of Homer on Tuesday. It's a 100-seat indoor-outdoor wine bar and taverna inspired by 'New Athens' – the resilient Greek capital where creativity, community and chaos abound in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
'I love the vibe, I love the history, and I love the grittiness of Athens,' says Harry Kapoulas, who co-owns Homer with brother and business partner Mario. 'It's becoming popular now, but it's always been this cool.'
The brothers were inspired by 'gastrokafenio' – a popular type of restaurant in Athens where modern dining meets the traditional Greek kafenion, or coffee house.
At Homer, that means family photos stuck on concrete walls; brown paper tablecloths laden with koulouri, pickles and blackcurrant leaf spritzes; and a weekly bouzouki player wandering beside the long, stainless-steel bar.
'We want it to feel really comfortable, like you're walking into someone's house, and they're serving you a drink,' Kapoulas says. 'It's relaxed, affordable, and it allows people to come as they are.'
The Kapoulas brothers have owned and operated neighbouring cafe HAM for the past 16 years. Head chef Kirri Mouat, who joins Homer from HAM, has worked with them to develop a menu inspired by Athenian cuisine and their favourite family dishes.
'I remember eating at my grandmother's house. She used to cook all day and you'd go in there and open the fridge and there'd be taramasalata, olives, feta, you know,' Kapoulas says.
'It's part of our culture, and we wanted to bring that here. You can have a lot of little dishes that you can pick at, or add things to, like a side of feta or tzatziki if you want it with your chicken, straight off the grill.'
Dishes are meant to be ordered en masse, covering the table with custom-made ceramic plates filled with flatbread (baked in the brick, wood-fired oven), stifado (beef stew) rolled in crisp chicken skin, and baked manouri cheese drizzled with honey. There's also mum's moussaka, spanakorizo topped with white fish, and 'sticks and stones' (a grilled meat plate with lamb ribs and meatballs).
The drinks list runs from approachable lagers and well-known Australian wines to fun cocktails, including mini martinis. Greek aperitifs such as ouzo and mastiha are also represented, and a wide variety of lesser-known Greek wines.
'It's a 50-50 split between Greek and Australian wines,' Kapoulas says. 'We really want to educate people and promote the Greek stuff because there's so much there that's really exciting, but we understand that not everyone is into that.'
He recommends trying a glass of Thymiopoulos 'Young Vines', a red xinomavro from Naoussa or 'a really cool retsina, it's a new age [Kechribari] retsina and it comes in a beautiful little half-litre bottle – it's dry, white and really delicious'.
Greek table wine is available by the carafe for $38, and there's also Greek coffee, lemonade floats for the kids, and non-alcoholic cocktails.
'Cronulla needs something like this right now – something casual and accessible, with Greek food,' Kapoulas says. 'There haven't been any [sit-down] Greek restaurants open for dinner at Cronulla, until now.'
Lunch Friday-Sunday; dinner Tuesday-Sunday