Ela na Fáme dinner launches 2026 Greek Food & Wine Festival at Eleni’s Kitchen

The 2026 Greek Food & Wine Festival officially commenced connected Thursday evening with the Ela na Fáme meal astatine Eleni’s Kitchen + Bar, bringing together much than 50 guests from Melbourne’s hospitality, taste and media sectors for an evening celebrating Greek food, wine and community.

Hosted by the Greek Food & Wine Society, with Neos Kosmos serving arsenic media spouse for the festival, the motorboat lawsuit was led by society president Meni Valle, who said the organisation was founded with a elemental but passionate vision: to observe Greek civilization done food, wine and community.

Addressing guests gathered upstairs successful Eleni’s relation room, Valle said Greek cuisine was presently experiencing a large resurgence crossed Melbourne.

“Greek nutrient is truly having a infinitesimal close present successful Melbourne, and we judge that the latest wave of involvement successful the cuisine of Greece is lone conscionable the beginning,” she said.

“At its heart, the society is astir creating meaningful connections done each things Greek.”

Valle said the organisation seeks to sphere traditional recipes and culinary practice while besides embracing the improvement of modern Greek cuisine and the creativity of modern chefs.

“We observe and stock Greek culinary culture, traditions and expressions, preserving recipes that transportation past and memory, while besides embracing modern cuisine and the caller ways modern Greek chefs are interpreting past ingredients,” she said.

Meni Valle astatine Eleni’s. Photo: Neos Kosmos

Describing nutrient arsenic “a span to culture, tradition and each other,” Valle emphasised the determination diverseness of Greek cuisine, saying galore radical are lone acquainted with a small portion of it.

“Greek nutrient is so overmuch much determination and exceptional than galore mightiness realise, beyond those acquainted dishes that we each emotion and know,” she said.

The society’s events purpose to showcase cuisine and wines from crossed Greece, from bluish regions to the islands and municipality nutrient scenes of modern Athens.

“Every dish, each solid carries centuries of past made vibrant and live today,” Valle said.

“Each gathering we big is much than conscionable a meal oregon tasting. We want to take you connected a travel done the depth, diverseness and soul of Hellenic gastronomy.”

While the upstairs relation space hosted invited guests and manufacture figures, the edifice downstairs remained packed with regular diners passim the evening, reflecting the enduring popularity of the Yarraville venue and the ambiance of warmth that has defined it for decades.

Speaking with Neos Kosmos before the meal co-owner Eleftheria Amanatidis opened up astir the inspiration down Eleni’s Kitchen and its heavy transportation to Yarraville’s Greek history.

“And I didn’t adjacent start talking a small astir however Eleni’s Kitchen and Bar came about,” Amanatidis said.

“It was fundamentally my grandparents that were the inspiration.”

She explained that her grandparents had opened the archetypal small Greek tavern successful Yarraville during the 1970s, inspiring the household to proceed that bequest generations later.

Nelly Skoufatoglou interviews Eleftheria Amanatidis. Photo: Supplied

“All these years aboriginal aft our grandparents came present from Greece… we thought, why not replicate that now?”

“We thought, why not replicate that now?”

Reflecting connected the evening itself, Eleftheria said the gathering captured precisely what the household had ever envisioned for the venue.

“For maine tonight is truly special due to the fact that this is precisely what Eleni’s Kitchen is about,” she said.

“It’s astir radical coming together, sharing food, sitting astatine 1 table, talking, laughing and feeling similar household adjacent if they’ve ne'er met before.”

She described Greek hospitality arsenic something profoundly rooted successful representation and generosity alternatively than simply dining.

“In Greek culture, nutrient was ne'er conscionable food,” she said.

“It was love, it was comfort, it was healing, it was however our grandparents showed affection and brought everyone together.”

Eleftheria said galore of the dishes served passim the evening carried memories of her puerility and household home.

“A batch of these flavours are things we grew up with,” she said.

“You smell something cooking and suddenly you’re backmost successful your yiayia’s room again.”

She described Eleni’s Kitchen arsenic a spot centred connected togetherness, generous hospitality and the communal acquisition of sharing food.

“Eleni’s Kitchen for us is each astir precisely what I wanted to replicate present this evening. For everyone to come, sit together, socialise, conscionable beryllium one, and bask bully nutrient and plentifulness of it, arsenic some my yiayias ever said,” she said.

Reflecting connected challenges faced by the business, including the edifice antecedently being firebombed, Eleftheria said her grandparents’ resilience and religion had helped usher the household done hard periods.

The meal table astatine Eleni’s waiting for the guests. Photo: Neos Kosmos

“My grandparents taught us that everything ever works out. You conscionable person to support astatine it, stay strong,” she said.

“And it mightiness sound a small spot cliché, but God is ever with you done hard transitions.”

Despite the hardship, she said the acquisition reinforced the value of household and community.

“It was bittersweet for maine due to the fact that I was still capable to propulsion done for my family, which is different crushed why we’re each present this evening — to bask and observe that,” she said.

“So bask the nutrient and I anticipation you bask each other’s company.”

Guests were served a four-course meze-style paper curated by Amanatidis and Head Chef Christos Katopodis, including house-made dips with warm pita, gigantes, char-grilled South Australian octopus with skordalia, ouzo keftedes with atom and Greek java to finish.