Get ready to upgrade your bread and dips game. Here you’ll be eating plate-sized, house-baked sourdough, cut into wedges for tearing and dipping. Warm, nutty and fragrant, when it arrives alongside the house taramasalata – itself lemony and well-seasoned, and whipped with mashed potato – it’s impossible to stop swiping.

Nik Pouloupatis (ex-Cutler and Co, Attica and Grossi Florentino) runs this terracotta-paved terrace and he’s ready to bring Peloponnesian dazzle to Toorak Road. There’s greenery and stark white walls but the dining room, with gilt mirrors, full bar and linen napkins, signals restaurant rather than rollicking taverna.

The food is a balance of soulful and contemporary. Golden tiropita (cheese pie) is filled with feta for bite, ricotta for smoothness and kefalograviera for melt; octopus stifado is heady with cinnamon and star anise, and the drinks list draws, naturally, from Greece. Astoria means “star” and this restaurant has plenty of sparkle.

Must order: House-baked sesame sourdough with tarama and eggplant dip.

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.