Dec. 24, 2008 - Issue #688: Les Tabernacles!

Chain Gang: It’s all Greek to them

First of all, let’s set the record straight: yes, Whyte Avenue’s Greek mainstay Yianni’s is named after its founder, Yianni Psalios. The feisty Cypriot started the restaurant in March of 1984 and built it into one of Edmonton’s premiere hot spots. When Gretzky and company partied with the Stanley Cup in tow, Yianni was pouring the Ouzo.

 

Homesickness seemed to play a part in the family’s decision to move in 1989. Yianni and his wife-slash-business-manager Kally, along with young Theo and baby Dina, returned to the sun-bathed island of Cyprus. Within a year, they were back in Edmonton.

 

“They just weren’t used to the lifestyle there,” said Dina Psalios of their time in the Mediterranean. “The pace was too slow, and they had all these memories of success in Edmonton. It was just a matter of time for my dad.”

 

Yianni opened a new restaurant in Aspen Gardens called Kypros Taverna, which enjoyed modest success. In 1996, he sold the restaurant and finally made the move that would cement the second phase of his success on Edmonton’s culinary scene: Yianni opened the first Koutouki on 124 St. 

 

Over the next decade, Yianni found that he could draw on the ferocious energy of his family to extend the Koutouki name. His son, Theo Psalios, returned from studying in Vancouver and opened the Koutouki Ouzeri in the west end. The charming young chef inherited his old man’s culinary and social skills, but added a personal flair that draws in the younger crowds.

 

Yianni followed the Ouzeri with a new location and a new name. The Souvla Taverna opened across the street from the original Koutouki. Believe it or not, the Herculean efforts it took to keep both places open and profitable turned out for the best. Conflicts with the property company closed Koutouki’s doors after ten years and Souvla became the new Koutouki Taverna Downtown, run by Dina Psalios and her husband, Yianni protégé Chris St-Denis.

 

With one Koutouki for his son and one for his daughter, Yianni needed a place to call his own. He snapped up an old Smitty’s restaurant on the south side, gutted and renovated it, then concentrated on the exterior. Now you can sit and count the double-takes on Gateway Boulevard as drivers pass the Delta Edmonton South and come across the whitewashed walls, cool blue accents and open patios of Koutouki Taverna South. On most nights, Yianni himself will still pour your Ouzo.

 

Even without the patriarch, the Koutouki brand has extended a bit further. Investors approached the Psalios family with opportunities in Leduc and Saskatoon. While the Saskatoon location was just too far away for the kind of hands-on quality control so important to a Psalios success, the Leduc location continues to thrive. 

 

Each location caters to a specific clientele and enjoys its own successes. According to Dina, the south side location attracts both fans of Yianni and customers from the nearby hotels. The west end sees large numbers of suburban customers, as well as visitors from the Mall. The downtown location is always filled with diehard devotees of the original spot. She refuses to say which one is most popular.

 

However, she does say that the television show didn’t have as much of an impact as you might have thought. Cameras followed the family for two years as they filmed “The Family Restaurant” for the Food Network. The show ran for two seasons starting in 2005. Fans tuned in to the Psalios family from the time Yianni opened Souvla, through the closure of the original Koutouki and the renovation of the south side location.

 

“Filming the television show was difficult,” admitted Dina. “The cameras were not only meddling in the business, but they were also meddling in our lives. I just don’t feel that I looked friendly on TV, and that’s not really who I am.” The Koutouki chain was already doing well, according to Dina, but suddenly they had fans visiting from across Canada and others calling or emailing from Australia, India and Mexico.

 

However, Dina doesn’t have time to sit down to watch the show very often. The family has settled into the hectic routine of restaurateurs. Dina brings her nine-month-old to visit grandpa at the south side restaurant and Theo sprints home from the Ouzeri to be with his own two-month-old between rushes. Dina figures that her mom and dad will be retiring soon, and she is looking forward to giving them the chance to take some time off or even travel together. It could mean that the chain will shrink a little.

“Oh, we’re still going to be here,” she assures her devoted customers. “We have to make sure that there is something here for the little ones to run!” Lucky for us, Edmonton will have another generation of Psalios to deliver that Greek hospitality. Opa! V 

More info about Koutouki Taverna →
More info about Yianni’s →

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