Popular Greek restaurant that burned down in Kelowna aiming to reopen next June
Global News
On the one-year anniversary of the fire, city council gave Koutsantonis the go-ahead to embark on the Greek Taverna's next chapter.
Mike Koutsantonis marked what could have been a grim anniversary this week with some good news.
One year ago this week, fire swept through Olympia Taverna, his family restaurant of nearly 50 years.
Flames could be seen for blocks as the 70-year-old building burned to the ground. Little was left to salvage from the restaurant, which had been a hub of Greek food and family life in Kelowna.
“We managed to save some pictures and a few knickknacks and some of the chairs I’ll be refinishing,” Koutsantonis said.
“A lot of the stuff was in areas of the restaurant we couldn’t access.”
Now, the space has been cleared of most of the debris, and on the one-year anniversary of that fire, city council gave Koutsantonis the go-ahead to embark on the family’s next chapter by approving a building permit and parking variance.
Koutsantonis talked about the family’s sense of loss at the beginning, and how they eventually came to accept that there was not too much they could do about it.
“It happened,” he said.