Vrisaki and Andy’s both close, but live on in a new takeaway
© Souvlakination
Two of the Greek & Cypriot community’s favourite kebab spots close their doors for good, but the Vrisaki legacy survives in a new location in Hertfordshire, with Andreas and co still there.
Londoners will be disappointed to hear the news that the famous Vrisaki Restaurant at 73 Myddleton Road, Wood Green, this month closed its doors for good after almost 44 years of service. A Vrisaki offshoot, Andy’s Kebab House at 220 Bramley Road opposite Oakwood station, also closed its doors this May. Thankfully, the Vrisaki operation lives on at its newest takeaway location in Hertfordshire. You can read about it below.
© Souvlakination. When Andreas Antoniou (right) opened Vrisaki in 1981, he would sell a pita of gyros for 33p.
Vrisaki joins an avalanche of London hospitality closures in the past 12 months, including Uncle Tony’s Taverna in Finchley, Byzantium Cafe in Bayswater, Meraki Grill in Southgate, Koutoukaki on Holloway Road and Tooley’s in London Bridge. Those are but a few names in the Greek restaurant category alone, amidst predictions that over 6,000 of the UK’s independent restaurants will close in 2025 (over 10% of them are already technically insolvent).
Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) restrictions have made it more difficult for customers to reach the Vrisaki restaurant and stymied footfall in recent years. On the same road as the original restaurant on Myddleton Road is a host of Greek and Cypriot food and hospitality businesses, including To Steki, a kafeneio called Nicosia, Hellenic Bakery and Hellenic Gourmet. Myddleton Road still hosts a market on the first Sunday of every month, but is no longer the thriving community hub it was historically known as. Business-savvy landlords and the rise of Wood Green’s Shopping City already led to the local community campaigning against its decline over two decades ago, giving an insightful, long-term view of the changes to London’s local communities since the turn of the century.
© Souvlakination
© Souvlakination
Once upon a time, Vrisaki was London’s Restaurant of the Year
After opening on 11th October 1981, Vrisaki on Myddleton Road became the heartbeat of London’s Greek and Cypriot community in the decades that followed. Most of the Greek & Cypriot diaspora in London have fond memories of Vrisaki – if not, they at least knew about it. Stories range from wedding receptions, engagement parties and christenings at Vrisaki to Chinese and American travellers calling in to book tables ahead of trips to London.
Andreas Antoniou was 38 years old when he opened the restaurant, having spent a few years working as a chef in London after moving from a village called Koma to Gialou in Cyprus. He played a pivotal role in connecting Cypriots in London, including those from his village, and also sat on the Koma you Gialou board.
Speaking to Souvlakination, he recalled that a pita with gyros was 33p when Vrisaki first opened – a favourite among schoolchildren. Although the restaurant would make £1 - £2 a day in its first year, in its heyday, Vrisaki would hold two sittings every night. You needed to book two months’ in advance just to find a table, and the queue for takeaways would spill onto the street. If people weren’t in the restaurant for meze, they were queuing for kebabs to take away.
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Well-known personalities like Greek singers Lefteris Pantazis and Antypas, heads of state like Glafcos Clerides and Dimitris Christofias, plus footballing legends like Graham Bell all ate at Vrisaki. In 2003 Evening Standard readers voted it London’s Restaurant of the Year.
In the time that Vrisaki has been around, a restaurant called Fournaki down the road became Paneri, and another Greek spot on Alderman’s Hill, Astro, became Fanari. Fanari later became Nissi. In the year that the Vrisaki restaurant opened, Spyros Kyprianou was the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister in the UK and Andreas Papandreou won his first term in Greece.
© Souvlakination
© Souvlakination
The Vrisaki Kebab House legacy lives on at its newest takeaway at 240 High Street, Potters Bar
Working alongside Andrea in the past few years has been his son, Tony, who you will also find with Andrea at Vrisaki’s newest takeaway in Potters Bar. Together with a regular-turned-partner, Andy Litras (who was sometimes at Vrisaki twice a day), the team are serving the same classics that regulars know and love. Souvlakia, sheftalia, souvla, gyros, döner, and mageirefta like moussaka, pastitsio, afelia and stifado. Greek and Cypriot food in the way that we all know and love it. Although the newest Vrisaki Kebab House is primarily a takeaway shop, there are also two tables available inside for those who manage to claim them.
When I spoke with Andrea, there were two final questions I wanted to ask him:
1. What’s the secret behind Vrisaki’s reputation and success?
Love what you do. And don’t serve anything you wouldn’t be happy with.
2. If you were back in 1981, would you do it all over again?
A: Immediately, unequivocally: yes.
p.s. Here we’re recording everybody’s stories – so if you have any words or pictures to share, please get in touch with alex@souvlakination.com or over on Instagram.
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© Souvlakination
© Souvlakination
© Souvlakination