Former MasterChef judge and celebrity chef George Calombaris is joining Sydney’s Greek restaurant Alpha in a bid to inject new energy into the CBD diner.
The Melbourne-based restauranter and cook will be taking over the reins from the founding chef of Alpha Peter Conistis, who has already left. The Greek diner is now owned by Public Hospitality, the team behind El Primo Sanchez, Maybe Sammy, Ricos Tacos – who took over in this year.
“Peter Conistis has done amazing things for the profile of Greek cuisine and I feel honoured to be able to continue to evolve Alpha,” says Calombaris.
“I’m going to tweak the dining experience and part of that will be relaxing the menu, amping up the atmosphere and introducing a whole lot of fun.”
Expect a fresh food and drinks menu with cocktails by the Maybe Sammy team, a restaurant and bar glow-up – and we’re told a Greek karaoke room may be in the works. Calombaris' menu will be in place from April. Alpha's head chef Alessandro Mandelli (ex-Grana) will remain, and Calombaris will be moving Joey Commerford (Ex-The Press Club, Vue de Monde) up from Melbourne as general manager.
Calombaris plans to travel between Sydney and Melbourne for the next six months while he spends time at the much-loved Greek eatery and his award-winning Melbourne restaurant Hellenic House Project, before he decides on his next move.
While this is exciting news for the Sydney food world, it must be noted that Calombaris' CV is far from squeaky clean. In 2019 an audit found that he had underpaid his staff by $7.83 million (which has now been reimbursed). His business Made Establishment group was placed into voluntary administration in 2020.
Here’s hoping the next chapter for Alpha and Calombaris looks bright and tastes delicious.