George Diakomichalis is a celebrity chef the troubadour of Greek pastries. He left a banking career for the actual dough to train on Kalymnos, at his family’s ‘zaharoplasteio’, Vouros Pastries.
“Our craft in Greek patisserie has been handed down for four generations,” he says.
On return, he starred in his own television show, ‘It’s All Greek to Me,’ which elevated Greek pastry and his store, Kalymnos Pastries, in Torrensville, the heart of Adelaide’s Greek community.
Diakomichalis has bagged a cache of awards for Kalymnos Pastries, such as the South Australian Excellence Award in 2022.
Diakomichalis curates his narrative. He runs Kalymnos Pastries, hosts television shows, gives live cooking demonstrations, and leads annual food tours to his ancestral island of Kalymnos.
Mihali Vouros began the family’s pastry legacy. At nine years old, Mihali lost his father to the sea. Kalymnians are expert sponge divers. At a time when Greece was impoverished and children laboured, his mother sent him to Russia to learn a trade with a Greek family who owned a pastry shop. Vouros sent his earnings back to his family, and at the end of World War I, 1918, he returned home and established Ζαχαροπλαστείο Βούρος.
Diakomichalis’s Greek patisserie is built on recipes that are over a century old.
Kalymnos Pastries has been recognised by the Restaurant and Catering Industry Association as the Best Patisserie in South Australia so many times that it has secured a coveted place in the Hall of Fame.
In 2019, Kalymnos Pastries was named the Best Patisserie in Australia.
“We represent our culture proudly,” Diakomichalis says.
The use of “top-quality ingredients” he says, “are the key”.
“We make many things ourselves because much of it doesn’t exist here, or they’re too expensive to import,” he says. “Our labour costs are very high, so finding skilled pastry chefs who share our passion is challenging.”
He trains every team member “from scratch”.
“In Adelaide, we can focus on creating unique, homemade products in a friendly setting.
“Good customer service and traditional products from Greek recipes that date over a hundred years are the key.
“Four generations of tradition available to everyone daily.”
Diakomichalis’s daughters, one studying speech therapy at university and the other in high school, also contribute to the business.
“I want them to follow their passions and bring something new to the business if they join.”
The ebullient pâtissier has presented cooking demos in Adelaide, Hobart, Sydney, and Kalymnos.
“I’m an entertainer; I want to bring joy and inspire people to cook traditional recipes at home.”
His culinary tours to Kalymnos since 2010 have been a hit.
“I bring people from all across the world to experience my island and to introduce them to my culinary traditions,” he says.
The tours are “immersive” and include cooking classes, food and wine tasting, and historical insights wrapped in island hospitality.
“I try to inspire people with the Greek island life, and they meet my family and friends, and we all become family”.
Diakomichalis—entertainer, tour guide, social media influencer—is, at the heart of it, a master pâtissier whose roots are embedded in his Kalymnian traditional cuisine.
His media profile was born 15 years ago with a television cooking segment then came ‘It’s All Greek to Me’ which aired in 2022 on Channel 9.
A new ten-part series, ‘Let’s Eat with George’, launches in October. It will take viewers on a road trip through Greece’s regional cuisines.
Kalymnos Pastries approaches 30, and Diakomichalis remains dedicated to preserving a century-old family legacy set by Mihali Vouros in 1918 on Kalymnos.
Diakomichalis a flamboyant media personality, is actually very mission-driven.
“There is a reason for all the cooking classes, television shows, festivals – it’s about preserving heritage and passing it on to future generations,” Diakomichalis says.
A goal for in 2025 for Diakomichalis is to produce a cooking demonstration at one of the largest Greek Australian festivals in the world, the Antipodes Festival in Melbourne.
“It’s the largest Greek community, and I haven’t yet presented at their festival. I’m ready to bring all the sweetness of Kalymnos to Melbourne.”
