Mediterranean kitchen · Valencia St
A kitchen that cooks like the season means it.
Wood-fired, market-led and quietly obsessive. Everything from the pasta to the pickles is made in-house, and the menu changes as often as the farmers do.
4.9 · loved by 1,400+ neighbours · since 2016
Established
Seasonal dishes
Wines by the glass
Average rating
01 — From the kitchen
The dishes people come back for.
Six plates with a regular following. The full menu changes with the market — these are the constants.
Wood-fired octopus
Charred over almond wood, finished with smoked paprika oil. The dish that put us on the map.
Since day one
Whole branzino
Grilled whole, salsa verde, charred lemon. Two people, one fish, zero regrets.
Friday favourite
Pappardelle, rabbit
Rabbit braised for four hours, folded through ribbons of house-made pasta.
The slow one
Burrata & stone fruit
The season decides the fruit — peaches in July, plums in August, never out of season.
Summer only
Lamb shank
Braised slowly until it surrenders, with preserved lemon and barberries.
Twelve hours
Olive-oil cake
Rosemary, vanilla cream, a pool of our own cold-pressed olive oil.
Always on
02 — The idea
Born in a grandmother's kitchen on Crete.
Elias Theodorou learned to cook from his yiayia — not from a book, not from a kitchen degree, but from a wood stove, a garden and a very strong opinion about olive oil. Olea is what happens when that education meets the produce of Northern California.
The rules haven't changed since we opened: buy from people you know, cook over fire, and never let a dish leave the pass you wouldn't serve your own family.
Read our story04 — The bar
Sixteen wines, chosen to make the dish better.
Our sommelier Jonas pairs every course by default. Just say the word — or don't, and let the kitchen choose.
05 — Word of mouth
What the neighbours say.
The branzino arrived whole, still sizzling, and the whole table went quiet. That is the highest compliment I can give a restaurant.
Claire Fontaine
Dined June
We came for a birthday and stayed four hours. The staff treated us like old friends by dessert.
David Okafor
Dined April
As a vegetarian I usually scan menus like a detective. Here, the cauliflower dish could headline anywhere.
Priya Raman
Dined March
Two years of anniversaries at the same corner table. The panna cotta alone is worth the reservation.
Sam & Alex Byrne
Dined February
06 — Inside
The room, the fire, the plates.
Come sit with us.
Tuesday to Sunday, from five. The wood fire is already lit.