The couple fell in love with St Helens and the warm welcome they received and they saw the town as the perfect place to fulfil their dreams. They opened The New Era Greeks on North Road in September 2015, recreating Greek cuisine and Greek vibes amid memories of home.
Here, in our latest Food and Drink feature, Kyriakos tells us why the restaurant is a project and not a business, how they adapted quickly amid the Covid-19 pandemic to continue to provide for local people and why they wanted to bring a taste of Greece to St Helens. If you would like to appear in our food and drink features, email heidi.summerfield@newsquest.co.uk
What’s your full name?
Kyriakos Mavridis
What’s the name of the business?
The New Era Greeks
Are you the owner/manager?
I am the owner together with my wife Maria.
When did you open the business?
The New Era Greeks was established back on September 24, 2015.
Has it always been in the same location?
Yes. From day one, we liked Saint Helens. We liked the people of Saint Helens and their warm welcome when we arrived here – this is why we decided to open the restaurant here. We loved the fact that Saint Helens is a small town, away enough from the big and overcrowded cities, with loyal and very friendly people. It reminds us of our hometown back in Greece.
Are you local to the area? Did you grow up here?
Not at all. We are, both born and bred in Komotini, a little town in north east Greece. We got married there, we had our son in Komotini and our lives were there – we were pretty much settled. We were both involved in catering industry and our family’s future in Komotini seemed flawless. The financial crisis that hit Greece back in 2010 though made us understand that hitting our targets and securing our family’s future in Greece was impossible. We had to look around Europe for something more stable financially, so we could fulfil our dreams. After going through Austria and Germany, the warmth of the people of Saint Helens stole our hearts!
Tell me a bit about your business
First of all, let’s not call it a business. We prefer to call it a project, as we don’t like the word business. We are a family restaurant that wants to remind people of the Greek philoxenia – the Greek hospitality experience. We wanted to welcome people that have visited or stayed in Greece before and missed the Greek cuisine or welcome customers that have never been to Greece but would like to experience the Greek hospitality accompanied by some authentic Greek food and some Greek wine or ouzo.
What do you do? What services do you provide?
We have a passion for providing our friends with a little taste of Greece in Saint Helens. Most of our raw materials come directly from Greece, so we can secure that the dish that goes to the table is as close as possible to the traditional Greek dish that our Yiayia, our nan, was feeding us when we were in Greece. People can either book their dining-in experience with us online or they could just walk in every evening, apart from Mondays. Over the years, we have improved our take-away service, so our customers can enjoy authentic Greek recipes, even, to their doorstep. We brought Greek nights to Saint Helens with live Greek music, Greek dancing and plate smashing – a treat for everyone. This stopped during the Covid-19 pandemic and only started again recently. We are here to bring people together to experience the real Greek lifestyle and culture.
Why did you decide to open your own business?
I don’t really like to talk about myself, but this is something that very few people know – my wife and I never came to Saint Helens with the idea of opening a restaurant. We came with the hope of finding somewhere to stabilise our family and fulfil our dreams. The initial plan was to visit England for a week and then we would return to Greece and decide our next move. However, the warmth of the people of Saint Helens was so strong that a week’s trip is still going eight years later.
Source: St Helens Star
