A Midas Touch – Hellenika & The Fish House

With his arrival on the hospitality scene years ago it would have been easy to attribute the success of Simon Gloftis to luck or youthful exuberance.

Now, with astute skill and unwavering dedication to quality and authenticity, two busy Gold Coast restaurants, and critical acclaim, he’s confirmed the famous adage, “the harder I work, the luckier I get”. The passionate restaurateur talks to us about his labour of love.

Like many second-generation Australians with European heritage, Simon Gloftis grew up in a multicultural household. Half Greek and half Polish, food played a prominent part in his childhood.

Having spent many hours in the kitchen of his godfather’s restaurant in Melbourne, hospitality seemed a natural progression. At just 21 years old he launched the first of a string of cafes.

Then, with a few successful ventures under his belt, Gloftis decided to up the ante. At Nobby Beach he opened his now famous Greek establishment, Hellenika.

“If you can’t find it in Greece, then it’s not on our menu. We don’t do trends at all. Never have. We want it to be an authentic experience with sharp service.”

Following Hellenika’s rapid success, Gloftis was ready for something new. Two years ago, still on the Gold Coast in nearby Burleigh Heads, he opened The Fish House.

“I love seafood, and I wanted a new challenge. The Fish House was a natural progression for me”, he says. “Once I had found a suitable site, I spoke with the owners and we did a deal over a coffee table. Everyone kept their word, and incredibly, it all just worked out”.

Since launching, The Fish House has become one of Australia’s best places to dine, attracting a raft of glowing reviews. Gourmet Traveller listed it as one of the Top 100 Best Restaurants in Australia. The Weekend Australian rated it one of the Hottest 50 Restaurants. The Brisbane Times’ Good Food Guide 2014/2015 awarded The Fish House the ‘Regional Restaurant of the Year’, describing it as “the stuff of holiday dreams”.

Gloftis himself was awarded the 2014 Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur Award in the Hospitality, Tourism and Events category – an indication of his relentless drive and entrepreneurial spirit.

“Both of the restaurants have been incredibly time consuming and have required a lot of hard work – and even though they’ve aged me by about ten years – they’ve definitely been worth it,” he admits.

When it came to choosing kitchen equipment for both restaurants, Gloftis explains Moffat was a very natural choice. After all, it’s been in his cafes since he was 21.In Hellenika, Gloftis implemented two Convotherm combi ovens, various pieces from the Waldorf 800 Series, including a cooktop and a fryer, a Washtech dishwasher and a Turbofan convection oven.

At The Fish House he chose a wide range of Moffat equipment including two Convotherm mini combi ovens, a Waldorf target top with oven, two Waldorf twin pan deep fryers and a Waldorf salamander, a Turbofan convection oven plus a Waldorf six burner cooktop.

“Moffat really suits my needs, and I have never had any issues,” he says. “If something does go wrong, it’s fixed quickly, which is definitely what you need when you’re running a business.”

Gloftis concludes, “Overall, I have found the equipment that we use in both restaurants to be exactly what we need. It’s spot on.”