Have you ever heard of Demestica Red? No? You are probably lucky.
Circa 1996, when I used to be a regular Friday night fixture in a corner of Stalactites, the Greek restaurant on the corner of Lonsdale and Russell Streets, I think I drank a lot of it.
In May 1997, as groomsman for a close friend (the best man was in Perth and therefore unable to organise the festivities), I organised a rather tame Bucks’ Night upstairs at Stalactites. I call it rather tame because whilst I had the passes in my pocket to enable us to kick on down the round at Santa Fe (an establishment filled with poles and tables), everyone was happy to just sit around, eating and drinking til I put them all into taxis to go home and sleep off the inevitable hangovers.
In those days, Demestica Red was the table wine of choice in Lonsdale Street, a very rough imported Greek red wine which was quite cheap and not too cheerful. I don’t think you can find it anywhere in Melbourne anymore.
That is probably just as well – Demestica’s main positive quality was that it made drinkers grateful for the more budget priced Australian wines, such as Rawson’s Retreat or Jacob’s Creek.
I did outgrow Stalactites within three or four years. For the past 25 years, my favourite Greek restaurant in Lonsdale Street has been Tsindos, which is a few doors west of the Russell Street corner.
In 2004 when Greece won the European Cup (in Association Football, a sport I find tedious), the Greek precinct went amok in jubilation – but my status as a regular meant that I could still get a table at Tsindos.
Incidentally, the egg plant dip at Tsindos is amazing – and one of the things that I most love about Greek food generally.
The father of the current owner at Tsindos (a family run business which has been going for 50 years) told me once that compared to now, the Greek precinct used to not only cover the entire block in Lonsdale Street from Russell Street to Swanston, but would stretch around the corners along the latter two streets until Little Bourke.
Even as recently as about ten years ago, there would be at least five or six Greek restaurants operating around there.
Now, the situation is rather sad. There is Tsindos not quite halfway up the block from Stalactites, with a Greek travel agency down the laneway from Tsindos, Stalactites on the corner, and a Greek knick-knack shop a couple of doors down from Stalactites.
Until a month or two ago, there were also a long standing cafe and cake shop next door to Stalactites – International Cakes. But that has now closed down.
Which does leave the Greek Quarter looking very bereft of Greek businesses. Much as I consider both Stalactites and Tsindos to be strong and popular businesses, I felt the same about Medallion and some of the other places which are now long gone. And two restaurants do not really make for a Greek Quarter, even though the Melbourne City Council has much signage on the footpath in front of non-Greek businesses reminiscent of Greek imagery.
The only silver lining is the Eaton Mall in Oakleigh. That has emerged in recent years as a much more impressive Little Athens than Lonsdale Street in my time. But Oakleigh is a long way southeast of Melbourne, and I live in the opposite direction.
Lost For Words! 