The recent report Rebuilding Trust – For a Multicultural Victoria has been celebrated as a turning point for cultural policy, reaffirming Melbourne’s place as one of the world’s most diverse cities. Multiculturalism, after all, explains how communities live side by side. But, during a recent meal with friends at Aegli in South Melbourne, we were reminded that cosmopolitanism is something different and also visible in Melbourne — it’s about what happens when traditions don’t just sit next to each other but cross over, transform, and create something new and exciting to rediscover.
Athens: Heritage with a Twist
Athens carries centuries of history on its shoulders — democracy, philosophy, art. Yet in modern Europe, it has often felt overshadowed by capitals like Paris, London, or Rome. That began to change with Spondi, the restaurant founded in 1996. With Michelin recognition, Spondi took Greek ingredients and elevated them through French haute cuisine techniques. Suddenly, Athens was speaking the international language of fine dining. The city wasn’t abandoning its roots — it was reframing them, showing that Greek tradition could be both authentic and cosmopolitan.
Melbourne: Diaspora Evolving
Melbourne, meanwhile, has always been proud of its multicultural identity. For the Greeks here, that has long meant tavernas, bakeries, and family restaurants — places that carried the memory of the homeland.
But walking into Aegli was something different, an illuminating experience. The details caught my attention right away: careful plating, subtle herbal aromas, Victorian produce woven into Greek recipes. Each dish honored tradition but spoke in a new accent, shaped by global culinary technique.
During my meal, we had the opportunity to exchange thoughts with the owner. We discussed the cosmopolitan nature of Aegli, and he emphasized that the restaurant’s goal is not merely to serve Greek food to diners, but to create a space where Greek heritage meets international dining sensibilities. He described his personal connection with Spondi and his vision of Aegli as a bridge: connecting Athens’ culinary sophistication with Melbourne’s multicultural openness, allowing both to learn from and transform one another. That conversation made us realize that the restaurant itself, through its dishes, service and philosophy, embodies cosmopolitanism in a way that is both personal and communal.
This is not simply multiculturalism where Greek food exists alongside Italian or Vietnamese dishes but cosmopolitan practice, where heritage is actively translated and elevated. Melbourne here functions as a laboratory of cultural dialogue, where food becomes a medium for shared human experience.
Athens and Melbourne in Dialogue
The Spondi–Aegli connection creates a cosmopolitan circuit whereby Athens exports refined Greek culinary identity through chefs trained in global techniques while Melbourne receives and transforms it, integrating diaspora knowledge with local resources and international standards.
Ioannis Kasidokostas, the Greek-Australian chef & restaurateur, celebrates this exchange: food rooted in Athens’ culinary culture, yet fluent in Melbourne’s multicultural and cosmopolitan sensibilities. Our visit to Aegli, made this circuit tangible — the bridge between heritage and cosmopolitan reinterpretation was literal on the plate and in conversation.
Philosophy at the table: Can the Dead Dance?
Philosophers Kwame Anthony Appiah and Martha Nussbaum help frame what we experienced at Aegli. Appiah speaks of “rooted cosmopolitanism”, the idea of staying grounded in one’s tradition while engaging openly with other cultures. Nussbaum, on the other hand, champions global citizenship and moral openness, urging us to share experiences and values across borders. However, the idea of cosmopolitan practice is not limited to food. In music, the Australian artist Lisa Gerrard offers a striking parallel. Best known as part of the duo Dead Can Dance, Gerrard sings in a self-created idioglossia, a personal language of sound that transcends borders and national traditions. Her voice carries echoes of Byzantine chant, Middle Eastern laments, and Western classical influences, yet it belongs fully to none of them. Gerrard was born in Melbourne to Irish immigrant parents and grew up in Prahran, an inner suburb with a substantial Greek population. She recalls growing up with “Mediterranean music blaring out of the houses” and has said how this influenced her music. Like Aegli’s reinterpretation of Greek cuisine, Gerrard’s music creates a shared space where heritage, memory and innovation dissolve into something universally legible. Listening to her perform feels like entering a cosmopolitan dialogue without words. It is a reminder that culture, whether expressed through a dish or a song, is at its most powerful when it moves beyond coexistence into shared human experience. At Aegli, these two perspectives come alive on the plate. Greek heritage is honored, yet translated into an international culinary language that welcomes diners of every background. As far as our experience is concerned, sitting at that table felt less like eating a meal and more like participating in a cosmopolitan exchange: tasting, talking, and experiencing a tradition reshaped across space and culture.
Multicultural Soil, Cosmopolitan Growth
Returning to the Rebuilding Trust – For a Multicultural Victoria report, it is clear that its focus lies on coexistence and equity in cultural recognition. Yet Melbourne’s cosmopolitan food scene, embodied by Aegli, shows what happens when coexistence evolves into active exchange. If multiculturalism provides the soil — a society where Greek food is welcomed and recognized — then cosmopolitanism produces the fruit, as heritage is translated into global, interactive and inclusive experiences. In this dialogue, Athens emerges as a city of heritage elevated, while Melbourne becomes a city of heritage transformed. At Aegli, this dynamic was made tangible: cosmopolitanism was not an abstract theory but something we could taste, discuss and experience. It was edible, human, and profoundly real.
Spondi and Aegli reveal how multicultural foundations can blossom into cosmopolitan practice. Athens projects its culinary heritage with confidence, while Melbourne receives, reshapes and elevates it into something new. Our visit made clear that true cosmopolitanism flourishes in the fertile ground of multiculturalism, where memory and modernity meet. In this sense, Melbourne’s food culture, guided by chefs like Kasidokostas, offers more than fine dining; it offers a living model of cultural exchange, where coexistence gives way to dialogue, creativity and shared growth.
Cosmopolitanism in the Global Stage
While the aforementioned provide a perspective of cosmopolitanism at the micro level, at the macro level, the cosmopolitan advantage in global entrepreneurship refers to the strategic benefits gained by firms and individuals who are worldly, culturally flexible and have a global perspective. These advantages include an enhanced ability to identify and leverage commonalities across markets, fostering innovation through cross-cultural exchange, and building a workforce that can effectively adapt to diverse, complex global environments. Enterprises with a cosmopolitan advantage can create more universal products and services, gain a competitive edge by managing global distances, and nurture leaders skilled at bridging cultural differences.
*Steve Bakalis is a Visiting Professor of The Central University of Economics and Finance Beijing-China.
Despoina Limniotaki is a Social Psychologist, Appointed Councilor for Public Health and Municipal Clinics at the Municipality of Athens.
