Gina and The Cove ‘Perfect’ again

For the third successive year The Cove Bar and Grill has been recognised with a major prize at the Your Local Club Perfect Plate Awards night.

Restaurant owner Gina Louloudakis and head Chef Anita Lisson the only all-female entry in the competition, combined to produce the winning Prawn Saganaki dish, a favourite with Sharks at Kareela diners and a regular feature on The Cove menu.

It was the third year running that the Sharks at Kareela team have won the award for the Southern Metro Region, with the Prawn Saganaki creation also placing second in the state. The runner-up award for all of NSW was also the second year in a row for Gina, Anita and The Cove.

“The first award was exciting, then we were somewhat surprised and also excited to win again last year, while it was even better coming second in the State. But to win three times in a row and to be awarded second in the State again is just amazing,” Gina said.

Three state winners and 13 regional winners, as voted on by the public, were revealed at the 2023 Perfect Plate Awards Night held at Norths Cammeray last week.

In all 174 eateries from 146 clubs, from as far west as Broken Hill, south to Batemans Bay and throughout the Sydney metropolitan area, created a special competition dish for their menu, with members and patrons then invited to score the meals out of five and to cast a vote.

An estimated 80,000 Perfect Plate dishes were purchased by diners, with competition ambassadors in celebrity chefs Matt Moran and Courtney Roulston, visiting some 50 participating clubs to meet the competing chefs and to taste their creations.

A favourite Greek dish, the Prawn Saganaki has been on the menu since the Cove Bar & Grill opened at Sharks at Kareela in 2017.

“We serve at least 20 to 30 portions a day,” GIna explained. “At one stage we were thinking of taking it off the menu to change things up, and there was an uproar. It turned out it was a favourite dish for many of our customers, so by popular demand has remained on the menu.”

Created by Anita Lisson, The Cove’s head chef, the dish consists of sauteed garlic prawns in white wine with napolitana sauce, kalamata olives and crumbled feta, served with char-grilled pita bread.

The Cove sources its fresh produce from wholesaler M & G Seafood.

“All our seafood is handpicked to ensure we’re serving up the best quality, local produce,” Louloudakis said.

Prawn Saganaki is just one of many outstanding menu offerings at The Cove Bar and Grill at Sharks at Kareela.