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SHORT ORDERS
[SIDE DISH]
Hold the Jelly The Greek Kitchen’s Lisa Nicholas stays hopeful as she works to keep her dream alive Written by
CHERYL BAEHR
O
ne of Lisa Nicholas’ first food memories involves cooking with her grandfather, an experience that sticks with her vividly not so much as for what was good about it, but for what was so very bad. “My earliest memories of cooking at home with my papopus when I was little was making scrambled eggs,” Nicholas recalls. “ e’d always add grape jelly to them. It made them sweet and salty and green — and absolutely horrible. Scrambled eggs became my big go-to food over the years, but without the grape jelly. I would never do that to my kids.” Now an adult and owner of the Greek Kitchen (343 South Kirkwood Road, Kirkwood; 314-4629112), Nicholas gets the final say about what goes into her dishes. It’s been a long time coming for her to get to this point — especially considering she has been cooking for years and was one of the founding forces behind the iconic Olympia ebob ouse and Tavern, which she helped run with her ex-husband. Now, with her partner Joe andel by her side, Nicholas is able to bring to life the Greek specialties she’s been honing for decades at a place all her own. Though she’s been involved in the restaurant business for years, it wasn’t necessarily something she fully embraced until recently. Growing up the daughter of trained ballet dancers who owned a dance studio, Nicholas was destined to go down that path. When her parents retired she took over the studio, balancing teaching, helping to run Olympia and raising her children. It was a busy time, but she always fell back on cooking as a creative outlet and relished any opportunity she had
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RIVERFRONT TIMES
Lisa Nicholas finally got her shot to run her own place with the Greek Kitchen, and she’s not going to let a pandemic take that away. | ANDY PAULISSEN to show her stuff. She’d cook for family and friends, do some catering and even prepare some dishes alongside Olympia’s matriarch, her ex-husband’s Aunt Marietta, who would always give her grief about her skills. “She was the best Greek cook I’ve ever met — right off the island of Rhodes,” Nicholas says. “She was incredible, and I’d just watch her and learned so much from her. Anytime I’d make something, she’d say it was no good. My most favorite line of hers was when she’d say, It’s good, but it’s not mine.’ She was probably my biggest influence.” As Nicholas got busier teaching ballet and raising her family, she became less involved with Olympia. After her marriage ended, she entertained the idea of opening her own Greek restaurant — and even dreamed of it being in irkwood. owever, because she lacked the funding to start such an operation, she didn’t give it much thought. That changed when she reconnected with andel. A former couple when they were young adults, the pair got together after he moved back to St. Louis. One day, as a token of her affection, Nicholas made andel a small pan of baklava. e was blown away by how delicious it was, and he encouraged her to begin making it to sell. Working together, they got the licensing, pack-
MARCH 3-9, 2021
riverfronttimes.com
aging and a commercial kitchen, and began a small business. It was killing them. Though they loved the idea of having a business together, the high overhead and low profit margin for the baklava operation was not sustainable. As they searched for their next move, they found an opportunity one night while out at dinner. The pair happened upon a small restaurant in Ellisville, Cafe abob, and got to talking with the owner. As their conversation went on, he informed them that he wanted to sell the business. The next thing they knew, they were arranging to run it for him for six months to see if they truly wanted to go allin on owning the place. After that trial period, they sealed the deal and bought the restaurant in June of 015. With the business fully theirs, they were able to put their stamp on it and soon rebranded as the Greek itchen. The pair found success in Ellisville, but Nicholas never let go of the dream of owning a restaurant in irkwood. When an opportunity arose to move the business, she jumped on it, opening the Greek itchen on South irkwood Road in June of 01 . The restaurant was everything she’d dreamed it would be until March of last year, when the COVID-1 pandemic upended life as she knew it. The past year has challenged
Nicholas in ways she never could have imagined. Scared, unsure and exhausted, she and andel have been making it work and are encouraged to keep pushing forward by their loyal patrons, who they consider friends. She also credits her ncle Dino, who spent his life in the restaurant business, as the inspiration for what keeps her going day in and day out. Drawing upon his example as a hard worker who never gave up, Nicholas is not about to let the pandemic dash her restaurant dreams now that she feels that she has finally achieved them. “There are days when I don’t want to get out of bed, and there are days when I can conquer the world,” Nicholas says. “I know I’m speaking for everyone in the business when I say that. Still, we feel lucky. It’s not great, but it’s as good as it can be. I can’t ask for more than that.” Nicholas took a break from making her signature baklava to share her thoughts on the state of the restaurant industry, her recently acquired taste for White Claw and why empathy from her customers is the best gift they can give. What is one thing not many people know about you? I’m a trained ballerina. Both my parents were ballet dancers, and I retired from teaching three years
