Inverness’s first Greek eatery Yiayias Little Kitchen has fab start with high demand
As winter takes hold, it’s nice to remind ourselves of those summer holidays spent somewhere hot, by a beach basking in the sun and indulging in different flavours of local cuisine.
For me, some of the fondest memories are tied to many wonderful holidays on the Greek islands. If there is one thing that has stayed with me, it is the delicacies I have been lucky to try on those trips, and I now could grow a tail and wag it like a Labrador if I see moussaka as an item on the menu.
Although there has not been a representation of Greek cuisine on the Inverness culinary scene, this now has changed, with one chef taking the Highland capital by storm.
“I thought at the beginning, people may not know many of the dishes, and be like ‘what is this?’”, said Evangelia Tageri (32), chef and owner of Yiayias Little Kitchen, Inverness’s first Greek takeaway which since August has been operating from its Raigmore Motel base.
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“Actually, it turned out that there is, quite literally, a great appetite for Greek food! Many have been on holiday and are very familiar with food such as gyro pita or moussaka.”
It was a baptism of fire for the Thessaloniki-born entrepreneur, as she had to fulfil around 100 orders by herself on her opening night (with the help of some friends who came to the rescue).
“It was pure chaos,” she said.
“After the night was over, first I had a little cry - I was so overwhelmed. But afterwards, I thought: ‘Oh my god, how cool is that?’ So many people ordered my food, that was just mind-blowing for me.”
Setting up Yiayias Little Kitchen was a labour of love - a call that ran in the family.
Spending summers with her grandmas (her Yiayias) learning how to cook, and then helping and working in her family’s Greek restaurant since she was 14, she was used to the family’s business.
“Then, I decided not to continue in hospitality, but to study economics and law, something totally different,” she said.
However, her passion for cooking never faded and when, like many others, she was furloughed in 2020, she started going back to her roots.
She said: “I had a lot of time, so I thought: ‘What can I do that brings me a little bit of joy?’
“So I started an Instagram page where I was sharing all my Greek recipes from my Yiayias. This is how basically the name Yiayias Little Kitchen was created. But that didn’t feel enough. You prepare food and then there is no one to eat it apart from friends and family.”
In Germany, Eva met her now-husband, Invernessian songwriter James Mackenzie. For her, moving to Scotland a few years ago felt like a “fresh start”.
“I thought: ‘Now is the time to be brave, and maybe start something that I really want to do.’”
Finding a location in Inverness, however, was a hard task and the search went on for more than a year before the opportunity at Raigmore Motel came up.
In less than four months, Yiayias has garnered a good pool of loyal customers (with an impressive returning customer rate of just under 90 per cent).
“I'm very happy about that,” Eva said.
“There are people that at the beginning only know a couple of dishes, but then they say: ‘I’ll try something else this week’. And they trust me now - you just need to be brave and try out different things and not stick to the same always.”
Her most popular item on the menu is gyro pita.
“I don’t know how many I make each night,” she said.
Her dream to open her own restaurant is still very much alive, however in the process she has been met with a challenging landscape for new business owners.
She said: “What I find is that we don't get a lot of opportunities or chances as new businesses.
“I had applied previously for premises and there was somebody else that already had like two businesses in Inverness and obviously they get the place rather than you as a new business… and I do think that people need to give new businesses a chance - especially if they come with a different idea because obviously Greek food didn't exist up until now in Inverness. So it would have been something unique for the city centre for example.
“The closest thing we have at the moment is Turkish cuisine but just give new businesses more opportunities to bring more variety and international options in Inverness.
“I hope Yiayias gets a space, hopefully, close to the city centre!
“That is my biggest dream - a proper restaurant, with even more authentic Greek cuisine.
“I want to give the people the full experience that you would get in Greece, going to a small taverna. Drink your little ouzo, get your mezze, in a nice chilled atmosphere with a little bit of music…that’s what I would like!”
Yiayias Little Kitchen is open from Friday to Sunday for takeaways.
