George Calombaris: Greek Cooking, Delivered
Greek food in Australia spent a long time being treated as taverna cooking — generous, cheap, unserious. George Calombaris is a large part of why that changed. He put Greek cooking in a Melbourne dining room and asked people to take it as seriously as they took French, and they did.
Three of his dishes are on this menu. One of them is the highest-rated thing on the site.
At a glance
- Known for
- The Press Club, Melbourne — modern Greek cooking
- Television
- MasterChef Australia judge for a decade
- On the Providoor menu
- Three dishes: moussaka, 12-hour lamb shoulder, slow-roasted porchetta
- Best value here
- The porchetta — $60 across six serves
- Delivered to
- Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane
Melbourne, and the Greek kitchen
Calombaris was born in Melbourne to a Greek-Cypriot family, and the food he became known for is the food of that background put through a professional kitchen. He opened The Press Club in Melbourne in 2006, and it is the restaurant most associated with him — Greek cooking treated with the technique and precision usually reserved for European fine dining. A wider audience knows him from a decade on the MasterChef Australia judging panel.
What survives in these three dishes is the thing that made the restaurant work: long cooking, big cuts, and confidence about seasoning. None of it is delicate, which is exactly why it holds up to being frozen.
That durability is also why the dishes travel. The Press Club was a Melbourne room, but all three of these dishes are delivered frozen right across our footprint — Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane — and arrive in the same condition in each city. A moussaka driven to Bondi and a moussaka driven to Paddington in Brisbane are the same moussaka. That is rather the point of cooking it this way.
Hats, not stars
Michelin does not publish a guide covering Australia, so no Australian restaurant holds a Michelin star — whatever you may read elsewhere. Australian restaurants are awarded hats. It is a distinction worth keeping straight, and we would rather say so than borrow a credential that does not exist here.
The three dishes
- 12-Hour Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder George Calombaris Twelve hours of cooking already done. 41 reviews at five stars — the only dish here with a perfect rating across a meaningful number of them.
- Slow Roasted Porchetta George Calombaris Rolled, slow-roasted pork. Oven or barbecue, which makes it the one dish here that suits a summer lunch outside.
- Braised Beef Moussaka George Calombaris Béchamel done properly, which is the whole dish. Oven only — a microwave will split the top.
The lamb shoulder, specifically
It is worth singling out, because it is the one dish on this site with a review count of its own worth quoting: 41 reviews, averaging five stars. Nothing else here has held a perfect average over that many.
The reason is mostly structural. A lamb shoulder cooked for twelve hours has already had all its collagen broken down into gelatine, which is precisely the thing that makes meat survive freezing and reheating without drying out. It is a dish that is hard to ruin at the reheat stage, and it feeds four for $16.25 a head.
One caution: it needs a full 36 hours in the fridge to defrost. This is not a dish to decide on at five o’clock.
| Dish | Price | Serves | Per serve | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slow Roasted Porchetta | $60 | 6 | $10.00 | Oven or barbecue |
| Braised Beef Moussaka | $30 | 2 | $15.00 | Oven |
| 12-Hour Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder | $65 | 4 | $16.25 | Oven |
Feeding a table from these three
The porchetta is the one to build around if there are six of you — at $10 a head it is the cheapest way to put a centrepiece on the table, and it will take a tray of honey roasted root vegetables at $16 and duck fat roasties at $14 alongside it without much thought.
For four, the lamb shoulder with pomme purée underneath it is the version of this that requires the least of you and impresses the most. Finish with Anna Polyviou’s sticky date pudding, which also serves four.
Common questions
Where can I get George Calombaris meals delivered in Australia?
Providoor delivers his full range frozen to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Those three metro areas are our delivery footprint — if you are outside them, the range is not currently available to you.
Which of his dishes is the best one to start with?
The moussaka at $30, if you are cooking for two. The lamb shoulder if you are feeding four and can plan a day and a half ahead for defrosting.
Can the porchetta go on the barbecue?
Yes. It is the one dish in his range with a grill option as well as an oven one, which makes it the obvious choice for a summer lunch.
Are these dishes gluten free?
The lamb shoulder and the porchetta are both gluten free and dairy free. The moussaka is neither — béchamel is flour and milk.
Does he have a Michelin star?
No, and neither does any Australian restaurant — Michelin does not publish a guide here. Australian restaurants are rated in hats.
How long does the lamb shoulder take to defrost?
A full 36 hours in the fridge. It is the longest defrost of anything on the menu.
Sources
- The MICHELIN Guide — guide coverage by country
- George Calombaris at Providoor — range and dish specifications