food Meet the Local Big Fat Greek Family of Restaurateurs By Jen Ring
TEDDY SKIADIOTIS
Teddy and Nick Skiadiotis, two generations of local restaurateurs who have shaped the local restaurant scene along with their extended Greek “family.” Says Teddy, “My parents never wanted me to work in a restaurant, but that’s the one thing I love to do.”
St. Pete Beach restaurateurs Nick Skiadiotis and Gus Vartsakis came to America with a wave of Greek immigrants in the 1970s. Like many Greek immigrants at the time, they began their American lives working in Manhattan’s restaurants, diners and coffee shops. The dream was that if you worked hard enough and saved your money, one day you could open your own restaurant. Nick Skiadiotis worked in hotels and coffee shops for four years before he could open his own diner, Astro, in 1979. He soon presided over a collection of diners in Manhattan. Suddenly, Nick Skiadiotis was a very busy man. But the life of a restaurateur isn’t an easy one. “Weekends? You don’t have weekends,” says Nick’s son Teddy Skiadiotis. “Holidays? Those are your busiest days.” By 1984, Nick needed a break – a family vacation at the Don CeSar on St. Pete Beach. “We came for a week, and ended up staying three weeks,” says Teddy. Soon, the Skiadiotis family was escaping to St. Pete Beach every chance they got. “The first time we drove by where Skidder’s is, it was a CitiBank that was for sale,” says Teddy, who was eight or nine then. “My Dad was like, ‘That should be a restaurant.
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I can’t believe it’s not a restaurant.’…This went on probably for a good four or five years.” One winter day in New York, Nick looked at his wife and son and said, “Get in the car. If the building’s there, I’m buying it.” Skidder’s Restaurant opened on St. Pete Beach in 1992. About five years in, Nick and Angie Skiadiotis took another trip to the Don CeSar – they heard there was a Greek guy working there. That Greek guy was Gus Vartsakis. “My dad started at Skidder’s as a server, and became a manager shortly after,” recounts Gus’ daughter Dia Vartsakis. “I was basically raised at Skidder’s in traditional ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ style. By 11 I was hostessing, and by 13 I was cashiering.” To this day, Nick still calls Dia his niece. While Nick established Skidder’s, son Teddy started working on Wall Street. In 2007, Teddy returned to the family business. “My parents never wanted me to work in a restaurant,” says Teddy, “but that’s the one thing I love to do.” Teddy immediately started working on Skidder’s menu. Like many of Manhattan’s Greek diners in the 70s, Skidder’s menu was encyclopedic. The one thing they didn’t have
theGabber.com | July 9 - July 15, 2020
