Ritsa and Perry Nicholas have teamed up with Michael Stevens and Peter Hayes to create Tasmania’s very first locally-made ouzo.
The couple make the distinct brand of ouzo in the central highlands in Miena, a hundred kilometres south of their Elaia Cafe in Launceston.
Ritsa and Perry Nicholas are the owners of a cafe in Tasmania’s north (Left: Google maps) (Right: The Examiner)
“Our point of difference is that we are a locally made product and the ouzo is not made in the traditional way as it’s made in Greece [from grapes],” Ritsa Nicholas tells the Examiner.
“The addition of Tasmanian botanicals that complement the aniseed,” she said.
Ritsa Nicholas says her late father’s successful distillery inspired her to set out on her venture to create Koumozo Ouzo.
Tasmanian cafe owners are behind a new brand of locally-made ouzo (Photo: Melanie Kate Photography)
“”It wasn’t until recently when my mum told me the stories of my late father’s distillery and his success,” she said.
“Fascinated by my father’s Greek Island entrepreneurship, I set out to find out more which was made difficult by the lack of records kept and many of his peers having passed away.”
“After painstaking effort to find those long lost relatives that worked with dad, and Michael and Peter doing research and testing of their own, the first batch of Koumozo Ouzo was created.”
Mrs. Nicholas says she wants Koumozo Ouzo to reach Greece.
“We believe we have an opportunity to market this product not only in the local market [Tasmania] but to the national market as well as exploring international exporting opportunities,” she says.
“Our goal is to sell Tasmanian made Ouzo to Greece. An audacious goal, but why not?”
The Greek Orthodox Community of St George in South Brisbane has been listed as a COVID-19 exposure site.
A mother who works as an administer for the community respite team in the building tested positive overnight.
“There is no indication at this stage that The Greek Club, The GOC Childcare, The Greek Orthodox Church of St George, The Greek Ethnic Language School of St George, or any other Community services have been exposed to any positive cases,” the Greek Orthodox Community of Saint George, Brisbane, says.
The mother and daughter are two of three new COVID-19 cases detected in Queensland overnight.
They have not been linked to any of Queensland’s clusters and were “very active” in the community while they were infectious, The Canberra Times reports.
Contact tracers are racing to identify where the mother and daughter picked up the virus and what variant they have.
The three cases recorded overnight have led to an extra 24 hours of lockdown for the Brisbane and Moreton Bay local government areas (LGAs).
The Greek Orthodox Community of Saint George in Brisbane have responded in a media release:
“The positive COVID-19 case identified is an administration employee (program co-ordinator) within the Community Respite team working at the Administration Building on Browning Street, South Brisbane. The person was symptomatic on Tuesday morning and immediately self-isolated as per Government regulations and was subsequently tested. Areas where she worked remain closed and being deep cleaned and the person’s network of friends, colleagues and respite users are being contacted together with the respite service users during the relevant period. All Community staff working in the same building have been directed for testing,” the release reads.
“The Community is working with QLD Health and following all directions.The Community is working with this person on their movements in the days preceding her symptoms. There is no indication at this stage that The Greek Club, The GOC Childcare, The Greek Orthodox Church of St George, The Greek Ethnic Language School of St George, or any other Community services have been exposed to any positive cases. All COVID Protocols are in place appropriately.”
“The health and safety of our staff, volunteers, visitors and the public is paramount to the Greek Orthodox Community of St George, Brisbane and further information will be made available as soon as it is known.”
Greek Australian Andriana Christopoulos along with 14 members-representatives of South Australia’s multicultural communities have been appointed to serve on the state’s Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission (SAMEAC) for the period of 1 July 2021 until 30 June 2024.
“My Assistant Minister, Jing Lee and I are delighted to announce the new appointees to the Commission,” said Premier Steven Marshall.
Coming from a migrant background, Ms Christopoulos -whose family migrated to Australia from Kalamata nearly six decades ago- told The Greek Herald she’s “delighted” to have been appointed to lead the Commission.
“I am really honoured. I already do a lot of work with multicultural communities and I have established good relationships with some of them, I want to do more and serve the communities to the best of my ability,” said Ms Christopoulos.
“We’ve got 11 new faces on the board with new voices and this is going to add so much value,” Ms Christopoulos said.
File Photo: Australian Migrant Resource Centre CEO Ms Eugenia Tsoulis, the Honourable Hieu Van Le AC and Australian Migrant Resource Centre chairperson Judge Rauf Soulio at the official opening of the Naracoorte Migrant Resource Centre, Feb 2021. Photo: ELISABETH CHAMPION
Among the new board members is also Ms Eugenia Tsoulis OAM, Chief Executive Officer of the state’s Australian Migrant Resource Centre (AMRC) who has over 40 years of work experience focused on multicultural policy research and has held leadership positions in the mental health, education, arts, and employment and training sectors.
File Photo: Adriana Christopoulos (4th from L) at a Cyprus Community of SA Event, March 2021.
Asked about the Commission’s immediate priorities, Christopoulos said that the Multicultural Bill is currently in the Upper House for debate and “hopefully it will be passed” to allow for a “more modernised SAMEAC Act.”
“I think the first six to twelve months will be focused on developing that Charter and working with the communities to make themselves familiar with other communities.
File photo: Adriana Christopoulos with the President and Secretaty General of GOCSA
“We’ve been using the Act for the last 30 years and this is an opportunity for the Government to modernise the Act and the process the Commission work with,” Ms Christopoulos said.
The newly appointed Chair also endeavours to foster intercultural communication and promote relations across SA’s different cultures and social groups.
File photo: Adriana Christopoulos at the Pontian Genocide Commemorative Events in SA, May 2021.
“We want some of the established communities like the Greek, the Italian and some of the northern European communities who have been in South Australia for a long time, to assist new and emerging communities, strengthen their bonds and part their experience and their knowledge,” Ms Christopoulos said.
Full membership of the Commission is as follows: Ms Adriana Christopoulos (Chair), Ms Anna Cheung, Mr George Chin, Mr Bruce Djite, Ms Carmen Garcia, Ms Manju Khadka, Cav. Maria Maglieri, Mr Rajendra Pandey, Ms Shaza Ravaji, Mr Hussain Razaiat, Mr Reinhard Struve, Ms Khuyen (Quin) Tran, Ms Eugenia Tsoulis OAM, Mr Denis Yengi and Mr Ahmed Zreika.
Adelaide Magistrates Court heard that Mr. Broikos distributed “each and every” encrypted handset, which helped bust hundreds of international outlaws, to the Comanchero gang.
Broikos is alleged by prosecutors to be “the distributor of each and every AN0M handset used by those associated with the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang”.
Broikos is currently serving a home detention sentence under the condition that he only owns one mobile phone and turns in passwords upon request by police.
Mr. Broikos appeared alongside his mother, Monika Broikos, in the court yesterday and was “tight-lipped” outside the court, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Apostle Broikos, aged 18, appeared in court alongside his mother Monika Broikos (Photo: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes)
Magistrate John Wells issued a stern reminder to Mrs. Broikos and urged Mr. Broikos to stay out of trouble.
“I urge you to continue to obey your conditions. If you disobey your conditions you know what the consequence will be,” he said.
Mr Broikos posted a Snapchat story showing his ankle bracelet with the caption “home sweet home”.
Wells told Mr. Broikos’ lawyer, Craig Caldicott, that it was “too late” to suppress his defendant’s identity as he has already been subject to “significant publicity”.
Inner West councillors have voted to give themselves a two per cent pay rise.
Liberal Councillor for Ashfield, Julie Passas, is one of the Inner West Council (IWC) councillors who agreed that their annual salaries should grow by 2 per cent in a vote delivered to the council.
““I did not feel I could vote against it because I get back to all residents and work hard,” Passes said.
“I have not stopped, I don’t feel guilty taking a pay rise.”
“I don’t feel guilty one bit but I feel justified because I work 24/7 not just in my ward, but I assist other people from other wards too.”
“I don’t feel guilty one bit,” Julie Passas says. (Photo: Christian Gilles)
Councillors voted in favour of cutting back their meetings to once a month earlier this year, despite dozens of agenda items being carried over after meetings, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The Local Government Tribunal recommended they be paid the maximum rate of $31,020.
A report handed to council agreed that the pay rise was justified and reported that councillors in other Sydney jurisdictions are arguing for a similar pay increase of over 2.5%.
The vote was delivered while millions of Australians have had work cut due to current COVID-19 lockdowns.
Liberal Councillor Julie Passas has been described by Supreme Court Justice Stephen Campbell as a “well-known stirrer”.
Alexandros Panagoulis was a politician and poet from Greece. He was an important participant in the battle against the Colonels’ Regime in Greece.
Alexandros became a hero of the people not just for his failed assassination attempt on dictator Georgios Papadopoulos on August 13, 1968, but also for his prison abuse.
Early life:
Alexandros Panagoulis was born in the Athens neighborhood of Glyfada on 2nd of July, in 1939. His father was Vassilios Panagoulis, a Greek Army officer, and his mother was Athena Panagoulis. Alexandros older brother, Georgios Panagoulis followed in their father’s footsteps and was also a Greek Army officer, he was also a victim of the Colonels’ rule. Alexandros had another brother, Efstathios, who became a politician.
Alexandros studied electrical engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, he was influenced by democratic values when he was a teenager. As a result of this influence, he joined the Centre Union party’s (E.K.) youth organisation, known as O.N.E.K., led by Georgios Papandreou. The organisation was eventually renamed Hellenic Democratic Youth (E.DI.N.).
Resistance to Greek dictatorship:
Alexandros Panagoulis was deeply involved in the battle against the Colonels’ Regime. Because of his democratic beliefs, he quit the Greek military and established a group called the National Resistance. He went into self-exile in Cyprus and began to plan action for his battle against the dictatorship.
Alexandros Panagoulis was deeply involved in the battle against the Colonels’ Regime
When he returned to Greece, Alexandros carried out the assassination attempt on Papadopoulos on August 13, 1968. The assassination attempt was outside Varkiza (a suburb of Greater Athens), he did not act alone and had the support of his associates. After the assassination attempted failed, Panagoulis was detained.
Panagoulis was tried by the Military Court on 3 November 1968. And only two weeks later, he was sentenced to death, along with the other members of the National Resistance. After the sentence was delivered, he was transferred to the island of Aegina to be executed. Due to political pressure from the general public both nationally and globally, the junta chose not to execute him, instead they imprisoned him on November 25, 1968, at the Bogiati (Boyati) Military Prison outside Athens. During his imprisonment, Alexandros Panagoulis, who refused to collaborate with the junta, was tortured physically and psychologically. On June 5, 1969, he escaped from prison but was quickly re-arrested and transported to the Goudi camp for a short time. Due to his escape attempts and lack of cooperation, he was sent to solitary confinement at Bogiati, from where he also attempted to escape many times, but with no success.
“What would Panagoulis reveal in Parliament” is splattered over the front page of the Αθηναϊκη
Release and later life:
After four and a half years in prison, he was released in August 1973 as the Papadouplus dictatorship attempted to ease its restrictions and control by offering freedom to all political prisoners. To continue the resistance, Panagoulis moved into self-exile in Florence, Italy. There was hosted by Oriana Fallaci, an Italian journalist, his companion, and later his biographer.
Alexandros Panagoulis was elected as a Member of Parliament for the Center Union – New Forces party in the November 1974 elections following the restoration of democracy during the Metapolitefsi.
He also launched dozens of new charges against mainstream politicians, alleging that they had openly or covertly worked with the junta.
Thousands attended Alexandros Panagoulis’ funeral in Athens
Alexandros Panagoulis tragically died in 1976 on the 1st of May, when he was involved in a car accident. A memorial of Alexandros was placed in the cemetery, Cimitero Evangelico agli Allori in Florence, Italy.
Nick Kyrgios is into the third round at the Wimbledon while Maria Sakkari marks an early exit after being kicked out in the second round.
Nick Kyrgios advanced to the third round after beating world No. 77 Gianluca Mager 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 6-4 last night while women’s world No. 15 Sakkari succumbed to unseeded Shelby Rodgers’ intensity.
Sakkari lost to Rodgers 5-7, 4-6 after the pair battled it out for almost two hours.
Maria Sakkari is packing her backs back home for Australia from London on the fourth day into the tournament, following a triumphant run in the French Open last month.
Sakkari’s match with Rogers was suspended due to darkness on Wednesday after the first set.
Kyrgios has dealt better luck than Sakkari, reaching the third round at Wimbledon for the fifth time in his career, with the exception of Wimbledon’s choice of grass courts for this season.
“It’s not even real grass!” he yelled to the crowd at 5-5 in the first set. “I don’t know if you know this, but on grass it’s supposed to slide away. Now it just pops up, it’s ridiculous. Make it real grass! Jesus,” he said from the court.
“They’ve made it slow. This isn’t grass anymore. This is slow. Slow. Try watering it. Make it a grass court again, thanks.”
Grass courts favour certain styles of play and tend to be slippery and difficult to play on.
Christos Pappas, deputy leader of Greece’s neo-Nazi political party Golden Dawn, has been arrested in Athens.
The extreme alt-right former lawmaker was found overnight being sheltered in a flat in the Zografou district before he was transferred to the anti-terrorism unit at Attica General Police Directorate.
He is the last of the Golden Dawn group to evade justice and will face the 13-year prison sentence he has dodged since it was handed down in October.
His 52-year-old Ukrainian accomplice was also arrested and will face court on charges of aiding and abetting a criminal on Friday, according to Proto Thema.
Their apartment building was put under surveillance last week after police received a tip-off that he had been sheltered there since the ruling, local media reported.
Pappas was the Deputy leader of a Neo-Nazi party that was once the third most popular political party in Greece in 2013 (Photo: AP/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Pappas has been on-the-run as a fugitive listed by the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) and was last seen at his local police station before he and six others were found guilty of running a criminal organisation.
Pappas had been released from pre-trial custody after being held for 18 months and escaped shortly before the ruling.
A police raid on his home in western Attica following the ruling found two swastika flags, two German army helmets and bottles stamped with images of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
The landmark trial sentenced more than 50 Golden Dawn defendants on charges including murder, assault, and illegal weapons possession.
The murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas was catalyst to the trial which began in 2015 where the court accepted that the openly xenophobic and antisemitic group targeted dissidents and roamed the streets while armed.
Pappas and Golden Dawn founder and longterm leader Nikos Michaloliakos were sentenced to 13 years in jail.
When people think of Greek Australian chef, David Tsirekas, three words always come to mind – passionate, hard-working and a go-getter. That’s because despite experiencing the highs and lows of working in the hospitality industry, Tsirekas has still managed to successfully bring some of the quirkiest Greek dishes to the Australian cuisine scene.
This quirkiness all started back in 1997, when Tsirekas was first offered his sister’s partnership at Perama restaurant in Petersham. At the time, Tsirekas’ knowledge of Greek cooking was very basic as he “rebelled against the Greek culture” and immersed himself in swimming and water polo instead.
“We were going out to Vietnamese restaurants after water polo or swimming training and I’d bring home Vietnamese and my mum would go, ‘What’s this?’ She would then taste it and try to come up with a Greek version of Vietnamese,” Tsirekas tells The Greek Herald exclusively with a laugh.
“I thought it was quite interesting because that’s how my mind works when I do Greek food. I try and get the traditional flavours and palette and then re-work it where people think ‘this doesn’t look Greek’ but then when they taste it, they say ‘that reminds me of my yiayia or my village’.”
Tsirekas’ cooking is inspired by his mum and ancient literary texts. Photo: Andriana Simos.
Besides being inspired by his mum, Tsirekas adds that his cooking was also influenced by reading ancient literary texts such as The Iliad, as they helped him build a picture of where Greek cuisine had come from and how it had evolved over time.
“I noticed that Greeks in different parts of the diaspora of the ancient world also had different eating habits so that’s how I started incorporating everything into my cooking,” Tsirekas says.
It was this unique style of cooking which made Perama a success from the very beginning, winning multiple Sydney Morning Herald good food guide hats. But still, the restaurant closed in 2011 and Tsirekas moved onto ‘something bigger.’
‘I wanted to give up cooking’:
This next challenge came in the form of retail juggernaut, Westfields, knocking on Tsirekas’ door asking him to open Xanthi Greek restaurant in a special fine dining precinct in Sydney. The chef says that as a “curious and adventurous person,” he wanted to go on the journey “without thinking about the financial consequences.”
Over four years, Tsirekas built up the restaurant and people rushed to it for Greek food and the largest wine list in the Southern Hemisphere. But ultimately, the high-pressure environment saw Tsirekas’ dream sadly come crashing down and he had to close the restaurant in 2014.
“Xanthi was the next stage, it had the Ottoman influence… but it was very labour intensive. It was like going from high school economics… to trying to operate a business where I should’ve had the knowledge of an MBA,” the chef explains.
Xanthi restaurant in Sydney.
“I was ill-prepared to step up to that level operating-wise, but cuisine-wise it was probably some of my most amazing work.
“That was the last time I was in control of my own destiny. Looking back on it now, I don’t have any regrets. I understand that the mistakes made were my own and also, that the positives that came out of there were because of me.”
Since the closure of Xanthi, Tsirekas has been the Executive Chef at Universal Hotels, working on the development of the restaurant 1821, and he has also held a number of consultant roles for venues in Chicago, The Greek Club in Brisbane and Zeus Street Greek.
But he stresses that during this time, he was also struggling emotionally and felt as though he ‘wanted to give up cooking.’
“All this time I was suffering depression… I just didn’t feel like I belonged in some way. There was just something missing. I like the freedom… and I had this battle where I felt like I had no control of my life and I wasn’t going anywhere,” Tsirekas explains.
Tsirekas’ fresh start with Perama 2.0:
As is usually the case, things only became worse for Tsirekas before they started to improve.
While juggling his work with the Airport Retail Group opening a new pub and wine bar, and continuing his consulting with the other restaurants, Tsirekas suffered a transient ischemic attack (TIA), which is similar to a stroke. Later, he was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s as a result of damage from the TIA and is currently receiving experimental cognitive therapy.
Perama 2.0 under construction. Photo: Andriana Simos.
But despite all this negative news, Tsirekas says his TIA was a turning point and has given him a new outlook on life. In fact, this new outlook came at exactly the same time as the original Perama site in Petersham became available again after 10 years.
Now, the chef is focused on bringing the restaurant back as Perama 2.0, but fans can expect a glossier version of the original with a small cocktail bar, as well as a rebranding tweak in line with its updated menu. The pork belly and signature caramel baklava ice cream will also be back, along with food such as gemista rice.
“We’re keeping the original elements of Perama there but it’s a new narrative. I don’t want people to stay back in the past of Perama, that was a unique time. But Perama 2.0 is going to be another unique time,” Tsirekas concludes with a smile.
A time which many people from the Greek community are looking forward to as they watch Tsirekas rise to his full potential once again.
St Nectarios Greek Orthodox Church in Burwood is in the final stages of extensive restoration works by fixing the slate roof at the entrance to the church.
The slate roof was in need of urgent restoration, with the specialist heritage work estimated to cost more than $20,000 to complete.
But with the help of a $10,000 grant received from the NSW Government following the Parish Board’s application under the 2020 Community Building Partnerships Program, the work is now underway.
Restoration has begun on the slate roof. Photos: Supplied.
“These works, supported financially by both the Federal and NSW Governments, have enabled these once in a lifetime restoration works, which we would not have been able to deliver without this financial support,” President of the Board, Penelopy Kioussis, tells The Greek Herald.
“We are so grateful for this assistance to preserve and beautify our Church, which is an important heritage building that is much loved – not only by the Greek community, but by the broader community as well.”
In a Facebook post, Member for Strathfield, Jodi McKay MP, congratulated the community on their renovations and said she was pleased to have been able to help as the church is in her electorate.
St Nectarios Burwood is in the final stages of its renovations. Photo: Facebook.
“This is very exciting. I look forward to seeing the completed works and of course everyone, very soon,” Ms McKay added in a Facebook comment.
Restoration works to preserve and beautify the church have been ongoing over the last few years, after receiving $300,000 in funding from the Federal Government under the Community Development Grants Programme. The St Nectarios Burwood Parish and Community provided the remaining $99,879.
The works, which were completed in 2019 and officially unveiled at the 140th anniversary of the church, included treatment of damp issues in the sandstone walls, replastering of internal walls, replacing the fences and gates, upgrading the electrical switchboard and waterproofing the external sandstone walls, among many other things.
140th anniversary of the church building where the restoration works were unveiled with our Federal Member, Dr Fiona Martin MP, Member for Reid. Photo supplied.
