It’s the book which was written following one fire and which was launched shortly before another.
Yarraville restauranteur Eleftheria Amanatidis wrote her memoir and cookbook Ela na Fame (Come and Eat) in the second half of last year while her business Eleni’s Bar and Kitchen was closed following an arson attack on June 28.
Described as a celebration of family, food and Greek culture, the book was launched on Wednesday April 16, in the upstairs function room of the Anderson Street restaurant that was gutted by the fire and only reopened last November.
Like with the book itself, the launch was a celebration of the Amanatidis family, their history in Yarraville and the Greek culture they brought with them when patriarch Antonios Amanatidis arrived in the early 1960’s as the founding priest of the nearby St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.
“The church is very meaningful to me,” said Eleftheria Amanatidis, his great granddaughter, in an interview with Star Weekly at her book launch.
“I have so many memories in that church. I always feel a connection here (Yarraville) because of the church.”
In 1971 her grandparents Jimmy and Eleni then opened a Greek tavern in Yarraville, which Eleftheria and her sister and co-owner Natalie, named their restaurant after when they opened it in 2018.
The book launch doubled as a celebration of resilience and determination of the sister’s, both in recovering from last year’s fire and in being young women pursuing careers in the male dominated Greek hospitality industry.
And then it happened again.
Shortly before 4.30am on Easter Monday a white SUV was rammed into the rear entrance of the restaurant on Canterbury Street and set alight.
Just meters below the second story function room where book launch celebrations took place, arsonists attacked again.
This time they only damaged an outdoor dining area and Eleni’s Bar and Kitchen was able to reopen by Wednesday.
And while both it and last year’s fire are still being investigated, the book Eleftheria Amanatidis wrote and the stories and recipes it contains, is now out and available to buy or even borrow.
Speaking at the launch, Maribyrnong mayor Pradeep Tiwari announced that the council had bought copies of the book for all local libraries.
“I didn’t expect him to say that. I was blown away by that gesture,” she said .
