Stalactites is a long-standing icon of Melbourne’s Lonsdale Street Greek precinct, famous for its late-night souvlaki and homemade casseroles.
It is a hub of precious memories, where Greeks from all generations have at some time or another shared a trapezi. Its also a place that reflects Melbourne’s diversity, Greek and non-Greek.
New blood is pumping the heart of Stalactites. Origianlly established by her parents in 1978, 32-year-old Nicole Iliopoulos took charge of the business in 2006.
She represents the arrival of a new generation of Greek-Australian family businesses: corporate-minded, savvy and refreshingly passionate.
“I feel like there has been a torch handed down to me,” she says.
“To see how much of my father’s life was spent fighting for this place, working so hard for so long. He doesn’t need to work anymore. It’s my job now.”
A university graduate in business and marketing, Iliopoulos did not initially see the family business as a career path.
That was, until she was commissioned as a marketing consultant for the City of Melbourne, which at the time was working on the Greek precinct project.
“As I got more involved, I realised that the Greek precinct was something that I felt an attachment to, obviously being Greek-Australian, and that my family’s business was on the street,” she points out.
“I saw that Lonsdale Street needed rejuvenation, and what better business to start with than Stalactites? I could see a lot of things that I believed could be done better.”
From waiting on tables to cleaning the kitchen, Nicole learnt every facet of the business and has transformed it from a case of, ‘too many chiefs and not enough Indians,’ to a structured, management-driven company, “where there is some sort of accountability and responsibility.”
She expanded the team from just 15 staff members to 55, and has worked diligently to brand the business, “as Stalactites, not just a souvlatzidiko.”
Immaculately dressed in a muted pastel business shirt and black dress pants, Iliopoulos looks every part the new-generation entrepreneur.
However she is modest of her innovations, which have cascaded through Stalactites’ brighter atmosphere and refined menu.
“It’s not like I came in and said, hey guess what I’m the boss, it doesn’t work like that,” she says.
“It’s a slow process and the way you do that is slow pressure. I basically had to work hard and prove to my family that I was worthy of taking on the responsibility. My father was hesitant and scared, but now in hindsight he says it’s the best thing that’s ever happened.”
While she hopes to expand Stalactites in the near future, more pressing is her passion to keep Greek heritage alive on Lonsdale Street.
She is currently serving as a board member of the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne Victoria and the Lonsdale St Precinct Traders committee.
“It’s a great location because of the traffic we get, and because of the investment of the council in the street. I think there’s a lot of potential for the precinct if we can bring more Greek businesses back here.”
Stavros Konis who is now heading his family-owned business is quite the restaurant prodigy.
The 29-year-old is the third generation owner of Greek restaurant Salona, on Swan Street in Richmond.
Konis too has been tempted by the lure of the corporate life, an appealing alternative to family disputes and inter-generational resistance to change.
Yet following a soul searching journey to Europe in 2004, Konis realised that, “it (the restaurant) is not something that you choose, it’s something that chooses you.”
“Considering that I had gone to university, my parents saw it as a backwards step but I persisted…I didn’t see the restaurant as a job; I saw it as an extension of my home.”
Konis is motivated by the passion to continue his family business and his wish to establish Salona as one of Melbourne’s top Greek restaurants.
Salona was acquired in 1980 by Konis’ grandfather, Tony Atherinos, a young chef with movie star looks, and Konis’ father, Thomas Konis to “cater for the influx of Greek gamblers on Swan Street.”
“Before Chapel Street, Swan Street was the hot spot,” says Konis.
“We had customers like Alice Cooper and Bon Jovi. It was really popular back then.”
The business however lost momentum following a family squabble between Atherinos and Thomas Konis, who opted out and did not return until 2000.
Now on a journey in his own father-son business partnership, Konis describes himself as the captain and his father as the lookout of Salona.
The waves of intergenerational challenges have been difficult, yet positive.
“It is a typical Greek mentality that we don’t need to change and we don’t need to spend money on basic things,” says Konis.
“For example my father thought that the food would sell itself but it’s not just the food it’s the lighting, the plate presentation, the street facade and so on. Because of the slow arduous process of explaining to my dad, it’s actually helped the new culture to prove itself against the old.”
Taking his own experience in quality control, and drawing inspiration from mentor Con Christopoulos, owner of the Supper Club, The European and Gill’s Diner, Konis has transformed the concept, food and aesthetic of Salona.
“Doing things a new way doesn’t necessarily been modernisig it, my take on the concept was to go deeper into tradition. For example, we’ve gone back to Greece and brought recipes back like zucchini keftethes, sourcing the best ingredients and suppliers.”
“We are not trying to be different, we are just trying to give people real traditional food in a comfortable Melbourne restaurant setting rather than a tavern style.”