Ipsos Restaurant: Dominic Talimanidis
“We are well known for having the freshest seafood. Having grown up here, I remember Lorne when the Pier was still home to working fishing boats.
Unfortunately, those days are gone but providing our customers with fresh, local seafood, like we once got from the fishermen on the pier, still inspires us today.”
Opened in 2015 by Dominic Talimanidis, Ipsos restaurant is a Great Ocean Road dining institution known for its refined yet authentic take on traditional Greek food. The restaurant and food lend themselves to groups enjoying the pleasures of a shared table, with their slow cooked lamb a favourite. Driven by local produce, the menu combines signature dishes with innovative and exciting plates that change by the season.
Their house wines are made by the acclaimed By Farr Winery out of Bannockburn. “Nick Farr is one of Australia’s most respected wine makers. To collaborate with him on our house wines means that our customers get a product that they can’t access at any other restaurant.”
Dominic was born and bred in Lorne, moving to Melbourne to attend boarding school and university. “After completing my Master’s Degree at Melbourne University and working in public policy as a Political Analyst, I returned to the Surf Coast to help run my family’s restaurant A La Grecque in Aireys Inlet.” Now 33 years old, with two daughters, Poppy and Sophia and wife Amelia, it has been a move that the family has not looked back on.
One thing that might surprise you…
High quality food is very much a family business. The Talimanidis family are synonymous with good food and creating destination restaurants. Parents, Kosta and Pam ran Kosta’s Taverna, in the same shop that is now Ipsos, from 1976 to 2003, with their sons growing up on the dining room floor. It was only fitting that son, Dominic would return to this space. “Having success has been a really gratifying experience. We are a Lorne family, so to contribute positively to the town feels right. The support we have received from locals and visitors alike in Lorne has been phenomenal.”
“My uncle opened his first restaurant in Lorne in the early 1970’s. Since then, our family has had a restaurant presence on the Surf Coast for over 5 decades. My brother Alex runs a fantastic café for breakfast and lunch in Lorne called Salonika. My other brother Stratos has taken the reins at A La Grecque in Aireys Inlet, which is a wonderful place to stop for lunch on a sunny afternoon. Whilst my uncle continues to operate Chris’s at Beacon Point at Skeens Creek. Our family has an incredible dining presence on the Great Ocean Road which we are really proud of.”
What are the advantages of doing business on the Surf Coast?
“We are blessed to be operating our business in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. The quality of life that we have here, from the beaches and rockpools to the bushwalks dotted with waterfalls, means we can live and work in a place we love.”
When not in the restaurant, Dominic enjoys keeping fit and spending time in the garden. “We have a big focus in our family on knowing where our food comes from, so instilling that in my daughters is something I’m working on early.”
Eat at Ipsos
Ipsos Restaurant is located at 49 Mountjoy Parade, Lorne
Instagram and Facebook @ipsos_restaurant