Here's the Restaurant!

I've had requests to see some pics of the restaurant and everyday life, etc... so that you can get a better idea of what it's like for us here in Los Angeles. (Honestly, I still cannot believe that I actually live in L.A.!!! Never in my life would I have ever thought that I would live here...any where but here!) Any Hoo, this is the out side of Aliki's Greek Taverna, it's located right near Los Angeles Intl. Airport.

This is the inside, it's shaped like and "L", so this is the long part. : )

This is what you see right when you walk in the door...well, this and my smiling face! : )

Alice and Ari hanging out at the "family table." Strangely, some times people ask if they can sit at our table, which is a little weird to me, especially because the dining room is set up a little differently now and there is only the one table near the front so it's really obvious that it's not for the general populous.

The Restaurant Cont...

Antonio the Chef, he's quite a character! He has been a chef for Greek restaurants for over 20 years so he totally rocks!!! Every time a new customer comes in, they rave about the food and promise to tell all of their friends about our food...by the looks of it, they have been! We have more than doubled our daily business in the last month!!! It is becoming too much for one chef and one waitress to deal with, which is actually a real blessing since our Ari and I are financially supported by the work I do at the restaurant.

This is Lopez...he does EVERYTHING and he does it well, actually his nick name is the Professor because he knows exactly where every little thing is, how everything works and how to fix things when they don't work! He is one of the hardest working people that I have ever met. Lopez works all day long, sometimes seven days a week doing all of the behind the scenes work that allows the restaurant, the farmer's markets, the on-line olive oil shipping business and the catering to run smoothly and for us to be successful. Besides being a very hard worker, Lopez is a very kind and helpful person. I feel really lucky that I get to work with people that I genuinely like. : )

Antonio and I during a break in the action! : ) Some days it is so horribly busy that I am actually RUNNING to get people their orders, etc...because it's usually just Antonio doing all of the cooking and me doing all of the hostessing/waitressing. I don't know how he manages because he works mon-sat 11 a.m. to 1o p.m. and he is the only Chef we have! At least Alice and I can take turns and give each other days off here and there.

We usually grab a quick meal between the lunch rush and the dinner crowd at the "family table" up near the cash register. Lupe' is the one in the middle, she does a lot of the behind the scenes work to help with the food preparation for the farmer's markets and she has been entrusted with a few of Alice's secret recipes for some of our "specials" we serve in the restaurant. : ) (Seriously, I don't even know any of the family secret recipes yet! Alice keeps telling me that she wants to teach me a few...we'll see.)

Happy Birthday Alice!

We closed the resaurant for the night and had a very fun time at Alice's (Ari's Mom) birthday bash!!!

From L to R; Grecia-Amar's girlfriend, her little sister Leni, Alice, Amar and our step-neice Jazmine.

Alice and her boys

Ari, Alice and me...I know that I look like a bit of a freak here, I was actually in the middle of a laugh...check out all of my teeth!!! : )

Farewell Our Furry Friend

Lou Lou our sweet little Guinea Pig; February 2004 - February 2009. Rest in peace my sweet little friend, we will miss you very much and we look forward to seeing you in heaven!