Greek celebrity chef Yiannis Baxevanis to open Canberra restaurant

Canberra's about to get a taste of Greek food with a bit of Michelin mystique.

Greek celebrity chef Yiannis Baxevanis, who has previously held a Michelin star in Athens, will open a new restaurant in conjunction with the Hellenic Club of Canberra in Woden.

The restaurant will be called Orexi by Baxevanis and is the chef's first restaurant in Australia. It's slated to open in September.

Baxevanis is a well known chef in his native Greece, and is a consultant to high end restaurants in Dubai, South Africa and Switzerland.

It's part of a $2 million refurbishment of the Hellenic Club in Woden and club president Andrew Satsias said it was a first for the industry. "We are very excited to be opening the first Baxevanis restaurant in Australia, and deliver something very special to our members and to Canberra," he said.

"We are the first in the local club industry to bring such a high profile, talented and globally focused chef to a community club in the ACT. We know that along with upgrading our facilities, we also need to be continually innovating our food and beverage offering to remain competitive and relevant in Canberra's restaurant scene, which has matured significantly over the past 3 years."

Baxevanis will "control the menu at Orexi and visit regularly on his global culinary travels". Meanwhile his business partner Joanna Stavara will move to Canberra to run the Woden restaurant day to day.