You could say that the story of Dino’s– Adelaide’s newest casual dining experience in Hindley Street – began 100 years ago when Andrew Papadakis’ grandfather Dino was born.
“Papou came to Australia as a teenager from Skopelos in the 1940s,” Papadakis says.
He opened a deli and then other businesses, which did well. He would spend six months in Adelaide and Greece, where Andrew got to know him well.
“Dino’s is named in his honour,” he says.
Papadakis returned to the hearth to fast but healthy food after running and owning fine dining restaurants.
“I had this idea of creating a fast-casual experience – somewhere between fast food but restaurant quality in a casual environment,” he says.
He wanted to provide “catering, takeaway, dining in for lunch and dinner,” a classic caf with a new urban twist.
“After selling my restaurant, I tried working in a corporate environment, but it wasn’t for me”, Papadakis says.
He craved Greece and more time with his wife and two new daughters.
When the daughters came, he says Papadakis was “working 80, 90, 100 hours a week”, a reality for restaurant owners.
“My daughters didn’t know me; my wife barely saw me, and I didn’t want to come home one day and find them gone because I had been so involved in the business.
“Children don’t remember that you were working,” he says.
“They remember that you played with them, so for two years, I spent time with my family, and now my daughters run towards me when they see me and not away like they did”, Papadakis says.
During this reflective hiatus, the recalibration of life, Papadakis met his business partner, Giuseppe Nasti – a Michelin chef in Italy – who found his passion for baking and sourdough when he migrated to Australia.
“I asked him if he was even ‘one per cent interested’ in being a chef again,” he says.
It took Papadakis almost a year to cajole Nasti and “bring him up to 100 per cent.”
“Giuseppe brings that Michelin touch to the food – he can’t help it”, Papadakis says.
He talks poetically about the pita pockets created by Nasti, which were made primarily on-site.
All the food at Dino’s is made on-site, “like the best falafel in Adelaide with Giuseppe’s tahini sauce, mixed grills, dips, hot chips, fresh salads, and all the fillings for the pita, including vegetarian, lamb, and chicken cooked on a rotisserie.”
For winter, Papadakis and Nasti have created “a hearty kokkinisto type filling with rocket and tomato chutney.”
The joint is licensed and sells its “own beer, house red and white wines from Barossa Valley.”
“There’s Giuseppe-made gelati coming soon, too,” he quips.
There is something happening at Dino’s: intergenerational migration, from the takeaway to fine-dining and back again. The memory of Greek diners from the past, the delis and cafes that were the anchors of migration and the first ports of dining out to the new culinary experiences we enjoy today.
Dino’s is an ode to the past that heralds the future of good eating. A virtuous and delicious circle.
For more go to dinosadl.com.au
