Finding community through food and fellowship
By Zoe Scontras | Photos by Meg Robinson
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Greeks value community. To them, community is not centered on physical location or nationality, but what lies in the heart and spirit of a person.
Community traces back to foundational belief of the Greek ethos which refers to one’s character or moral nature.
The individuals highlighted in this story are part of Birmingham’s Greek community and live by the Greek Ethos.
Through their vocations, they build a greater sense of community by, selflessly giving back to the larger community of Birmingham.
George Sarris owns The Fish Market in downtown Birmingham, but it took him a hop, skip and a jump to get there. In 1969, Sarris left his hometown of Peloponnese when he was 17. He boarded a ship with his family and 2,600 immigrants bound for America.
When Sarris first settled in Birmingham, he started working at a deli, and bought his first car 17 months later.
“I would get up at two in the morning and sit in my car because in Greece you travel by donkey or mule” Sarris said with a chuckle.
For Sarris coming to America was like coming to the best restaurant in the world, but sometimes he missed Greece.
“Its like you have two mothers. You have Greece as one and America as the other,” he said. Somedays you love one mother a little more than the other.” said Sarris.
But America was a better place to “climb the ladder of success” as Sarris put it. So, He assimilated. He adapted. He became Greek-American.
He opened his restaurant in 1983. “I was always myself,” said Sarris. He never abandoned his Greek indenity, but rather embraced it in a southern environment by opening The Fish Market.
Sarris’ favorite thing about owning a restaurant is creating friendships with the customers, and then seeing them come back throughout the years.
These longtime friendships with customers enrich Sarris and his restaurant. through acts of service, Sarris hopes to do the same for them.
With passion in his eyes Sarris said “If you are Greek and own a restaurant, you die happy. I am content.”
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iki Sepsas has been to Greece 33 times as a tour guide. “Whenever I am on the ship, people from different parts of the world ask me where I am from. When I say Birmingham, they are like ‘what? Really?’” said Sepsas. Sepsas was born and raised in Birmingham. His grandparents immigrated to America at the turn of the century when Greeks were flowing to the States.
“My dad was born in Rhode Island but became an orphan when his parents died of the French Flu in 1918. He ran away to New York. Then he got shipped to Fort McClellan. After World War II my dad met my mom and settled in Birmingham” said Sepsas.
Sepsas was raised by his mother and grandmother to be Greek-American. He grew up speaking Greek and went to Greek church. But Sepsas recalled something his mother and grandmother told him.
“The most important thing you can do is learn the language and become Greek- American. You will always be Greek, but you salute the American flag.” Sepsas said.
And so, he did.
Sepsas served as a sergeant from 1964 to 1970 and then served in combat engineering in 1990.
Now, at 77, he is a tour guide and travel writer.
Sepsas takes community with him abroad. He shares Greek culture by giving talks on cruise ships and tours around Greece.
He made a special contribution to the Greek community by writing a book called Hellenic Heartbeat in the deep South: A History of the Greek Community in Birmingham.
Even though he spends a lot of his time abroad, “Birmingham will always be home.” said Sepsas.
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Why did Greeks choose the food business? “It’s what they knew and liked to do” said Stacey Cocoris Craig, assistant manager of the Bright Star Restaurant. The Bright Star was one of the small restaurants.
Tom Bonduris immigrated from Peloponnese opened the Bright Star in its first location in 1907 serving coffee and donuts to factory workers and coal miners. In 1915 Bonduris turned the Bright Star into a restaurant when he brought his family over from Greece.
The Bright Star is not a traditional Greek restaurant. “It’s more like a southern steakhouse with a Greek flair” said Cocoris Craig. Over time the Bright star added a few Greek style foods to their menu like Greek style chicken and tenderloin. “The owners had to adapt to what people wanted in the 1920s, so they catered to what the locals wanted.”said Cocoris Craig.
Sarris’ menu, too, is Southern with a Greek flair. “You do have to Greek the food a little. Put oregano, olive oil thyme, and a lot of garlic.” said Sarris
Sepsas and Sarris believe another reason Greeks opened restaurants was to show Philoxenia, a Greek word that means turning strangers into friends.“That is another big part of the Greek ethos. By showing Philoxenia, they are welcoming you into their home,” said Sepsas.
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he Greek Food festival started 51 years ago by The Ladies of Philopticos, a women’s church group at Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church. “The festival started as a little bazaar, that only took up one floor” said Elaine Lyda, spokeswoman for the church. Now they have about 34,000 people attend the festival. Lyda took me behind the scenes where the food was being prepared. There were Greeks and non-Greeks working together boxing food, grilling meats, and making drinks.
With one inhale I caught a whiff of spanakopita, a Greek pastry smothered with butter and filled with feta and spinach.
The atmosphere was welcoming, it would make a stranger feel at home. Everyone was in a joyous mood and excited to be part of this tradition. Among all the hard work, I heard the sound of laughter echoing from every corner.
I walked over to the pastitsio station and watched a man spoon pastitsio into containers. But while he was doing it there was a twinkle in his eyes- a twinkle of selfless love.
“It’s about bonding a community” said Dennis Pantazis, a church parishioner.
Communities like this bond through selfless love. What seems like a laborious act of boxing Greek food all day, is what this community lives for; serving and sharing a laugh with one another.