Local Restaurant Continues Family Legacy in Peterborough With Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
/It has been seven months in the making but George Anagnostou is continuing his family’s legacy with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for his restaurant grand opening, Nóstimo By The Original Greek on Tuesday.
Chef Shannon Leclair (left) and George Anagnostou (right) holding the ribbon as Mayor Diane Therrien (middle) does the honours. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
The restaurant opened in April but it held off on the ribbon-cutting ceremony due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Nóstimo’s specializes in Greek food where Anagnostou describes his food as fine dining for take out since there is no dining area available.
This is his fourth restaurant in Peterborough with previous places such as The Original FAT Greek StrEATery food truck in Ennismore, The Original Greek and his father’s restaurant, the Shish-Kebob Hut that opened in August 1976.
Peterborough became Anagnostou’s home since his family immigrated to Canada in 1975. He continued having his businesses in town because of the Canadian roots he had since moving here.
“I came here at 14 years old and Peterborough became my hometown,” explained Anagnostou. “I played hockey here, I've always had my heart in Peterborough, a lot of my friends are here and I went to high school here.”
Nóstimo means “delicious” in Greek. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
Mayor Diane Therrien was invited to officially cut the ribbon. It is a tradition of Anagnostou’s to have the mayor perform the ceremony as with his previous ventures.
"What makes our community so unique and special is that part of it is our small business community in the way that our entrepreneurs support our community and support one another,” said Therrien.
The building’s landlord, friends and nearby entrepreneurs gathered to celebrate the grand opening of the restaurant. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
Anagnostou’s focus is on Nóstimo’s after closing down his seasonal food truck over the weekend. He enlisted help from his business partner and chef Shannon Leclair that he had met during his ventures in Toronto.
The restaurant will have services that few eateries offer that can showcase the multi-talented chef Anagnostou recruited he says.
"Shannon has been doing a lot of cooking classes in the past,” he explained. “She's very talented in more than just Mediterranian and cuisine so we're going to create food global-wide and we're going to offer wine-pairing nights."
A portion of these sales will go to several different local charities. Catering services are also available today in addition to their wine pairing and cooking classes.
Leclair is a renowned chef in the Greater Toronto Area and studied Culinary Arts at George Brown College. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
