Odi Dagseven opened Mavi with three family friends after a chat on the beach. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Four childhood friends sat on the beach at Mollymook two years ago and said to themselves: “why don’t we open a gelato bar?”.
Enter Mavi Gelati: a Greek-inspired gelato shop crafted with care, the best ingredients and a taste of childhood. The Santorini-inspired Ulladulla venue is now in its second year of operation and the team has just opened a second location at the Hellenic Club in Woden.
Co-owner Odul “Odi” Dagseven told Region that while they had always intended to open more shops, this came a bit sooner than they anticipated.
“The director of the Hellenic Club came into the Ulladulla shop last summer and just said ‘we need this’,” Odi said.
The Hellenic Club location of Mavi Gelati opened less than a year later in December 2025 and has been pumping ever since.
The gelati is made on-site using creamy Tilba milk and fresh produce like passionfruit for sorbets. The team doesn’t take any shortcuts and the proof is in the pudding.
Olive Oil and Sea Salt is just one of the creative flavours the Mavi team has created for the Hellenic Club venue. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Odi explains that while the Ulladulla shop sticks to holiday crowd favourites, they wanted to offer something a little bit different for the Hellenic Club.
“In our group of friends we’ve got Greeks, Turks and people from all over the Mediterranean. And this club – although it’s a place for everyone – represents the Greek community, so we wanted to offer flavours that could bring people back to their childhood.”
The result is a series of inventive options, like a baklava gelato made in collaboration with neighbours Éla Cafe. They provide Mavi with fresh baklava before the syrup is poured on, which is crumbled through the ice cream as it churns to extract the flavours before adding extra honey. The result is nutty, crunchy, and sweet. Real Greek yoghurt is used in the mixed berry frozen yoghurt for an extra creamy and acidic taste.
Mastika is a flavour commonly used in desserts in Greece and comes from the sap of the mastic tree. It has strong pine flavours which, when mixed with creamy gelato, softens to a complex herbal delight.
“When older Greek ladies come in, they taste it and their eyes just start welling up. You know you’ve hit the spot: it’s so nostalgic.”
The gelati is made with milk from Tilba Dairy and fresh fruits in their sorbet. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Odi is also keen for me to taste a creamy milk gelato topped with sea salt and olive oil which is absolutely divine. Velvety gelati softens the olive oil and brings out the floral notes, while sea salt enhances the flavour. He says it’s a particular favourite of chefs, and I can see why.
All the co-owners of Mavi Gelati also have other hospitality businesses, but Odi told Region that making gelato was a completely new challenge for them.
“We’re like school kids again, learning everything from scratch. But we want to do a good job: we’re trying to be straight-A students!”
In the future the group would love to open more Mavi locations around Canberra and then expand into Sydney and other regions.
Mavi Gelati is at Hellenic Club Woden, 1 Matilda Street, Phillip. They are open from noon to 10 pm seven days a week. Mavi Gelati Ulladulla is at 22 Wason Street, Ulladulla. Follow Mavi Gelati on Instagram.
