Toni Risson

George Poulos
on 22.02.2008

Aphrodite & the Mixed Grill By, Toni Risson A Review Toni Risson's interest in Greek cafes began out of her friendship with three Ipswich ladies "...who were part of our cafe history: Maureen was my first boyfriend's mum (early 70s) and she worked at Londy's in the 40's and had kept a photo album that had fascinated me for years; Jo (nee, Kentrotes) had her first child start school in the same class as my first child (late 80's); Maria had made me delicious milkshakes at the Central for decades and we became friends. The enchanting Paragon was of course always part of my life because my dad comes from Katoomba". Aphrodite and The Mixed Grill started out as an 8000-word dissertation for a one-semester subject Risson took in 2005. She began by recording the stories of three older Greek ladies whose husbands had cafés in Ipswich in the 1950s. "I became so passionate about the story of the Greek café, and had such an enthusiastic response from other Greek people associated with cafés, that Aphrodite grew into a 240 A4-page book jam-packed with sepia photographs of cafés and their proprietors". When you first pick up the book, you realise that it is a high quality production. Of course many Australians & Greek-Australians have been waiting for the publication of a book exclusively devoted to the subject of the Greek cafes for many decades. Risson claims correctly that.... "The Greek café is an Aussie icon and I believe that mine is the first book dedicated solely to this wonderful story." The work draws heavily on previous important research on the Greek and Kytherian cafe, including that of Maria Hill, Hugh Gilchrist, Denis A Conomos, Craig Turnbull & Chris Valiotis, and Leonard Janiszewski & Effie Alexakis. All are acknowledged in the Bibliography. Perhaps one of the few failings of the book is that it lacks an extensive Index, through which the reader can cross-reference the persons and the places in the book. Do not mis-read Aphrodite and the Mixed Grill as a Academic Work. If you want to explore more extensively the rationale of chain migration, or the "shop-keeping phenomenon", or "weddings and proxenia" in Hellenic and Kytherian society, or the "Americanisation of Australian food habits via Greek cafe ownership", then you are best advised to read the work of the other author's mentioned above. Aphrodite and the Mixed Grill, is a snapshot of Greek Cafes in 20th Century Australia, using 11 cafes in the Brisbane suburb of Ipswich as a template. These Greek Cafes and their respective owners are listed clearly on page 48 of the book. Most of the Ipswich Greeks, we learn, came from the small Kytherian village of Fratsia. The lives, and cafe-ownership of George & Jim Kentrotis, Maria & Bill Kentrotis, Tony & Doris Veneris, Jim Pavlakis, George Kallinicos, amongst others, is recounted in some detail. Yes, Risson does extrapolate from the experiences she has chronicled in Aphrodite and the Mixed Grill. Risson's key achievement however, is to lay out, clearly and precisely, the key factors in the lives of the mostly Kytherian-Australians who form the subject of her book. In doing this with extraordinary empathy she has immortalised and validated their lives. Coming from an Anglo-Saxon background, as she does, Risson displays an extraordinary ability to "get inside the lives" of the various Greek-Australians she has chosen to explore. Risson covers the background of the Art Deco movement in shop design, and the history of migration from Kythera to Greece, and the impact of chain migration. Risson then explores the rise of cafe culture, the introduction of coffee to Australia, using the Kafeneion as a "Greek Social Model", the importation of American food catering technology, the rise of Soda Fountains and Milk Bars, and the introduction of Ice Cream and Sundaes. Also covered is the introduction of confectionery, the rise of hamburgers and takeaways, ice cold fresh fruit juice, the introduction of the Mixed Grill and of Fish 'n' Chips. The introduction of various species of fish to the Australian diet was also largely a Greek achievement. The strange anomoly of possessing one of the best diets in the world, the "Mediterranean Diet" - and not offering it for sale in the cafes, is also explored. The story of "cafe brides" is told by Risson, through the life histories of 5 Greek women. "Proxenia", arranged marriages, the choosing of husbands and wives by a trusted friend of the family, is outlined in Chapter 5. [See Vasiliki's Story excerpt.] Growing up as a Cafe Kid, a child worker in the cafes and fruitshops is explored. Being a cafe kid myself, I can identify deeply with this chapter. Also some of the interesting and fun times in the cafes, fraternising with fellow Greeks, gambling, being entrusted with holding Australians property when they travelled outside the town. Some of the hard times and tough times are also chronicled, relationships with the Health Inspectors, accidents and family tragedies, and the impact of floods. The impact of WWII included the impost of rationing, and the role of the American GI in Australia, fights between the Aussies and the Yanks, and the boom time conditions that prevailed, making work in the cafes doubly hard. The relationships between the waitresses and the Greek proprietors is outlined, as is the racial abuse endured by Greek Australians. "Speak English ya bloody dago," is one of the sub-chapter headings that Risson employs. On the other side of the world, on Kythera, Risson explores the reverse side of the Greek-Australian relationship. The Kytherian population declined from 15,000 in the 1920's to a little over 3,000 in 2007. Empty houses, falling into ruin. Devastated communities with limited resources. Toni followed one Ipswich respondent, Jim Pavlakis to Kythera, staying with him in his and his wife Lumbrini's home. Jim has since renovated their home on Kythera. "On the concrete wall beside the front door, seven letters are written in gold and framed with marble - Ipswich". These form a perfect counterpoint to the seven letters welded into the front gate of Jim's Queensland home - Fratsia." Chapter thirteen is devoted to the end of an era - the demise of the Greek cafes. Factors influencing their demise include the emergence of fast-food chains, Hotels, Clubs and Restaurants, the advent of television, and the decline of picture theatres, the growth of pre-packaged goods and supermarkets, the professionalisation of the 2nd generation, and finally the rise of coffee and cafe culture. Risson concludes her chapter on "tracking the signs" with the following paragraph. "Historical research, official documents, and newspaper articles are useful sources, which, when used in conjunction with the knowledge of older residents, can build up a history of a town or city's Greek cafes. Field work and old photographs provide perhaps the most thrilling aspect of this kind of research because following a trail of clues is like solving a mystery, and when an existing facade matches that of an image from the 1920's another piece of the puzzle fits into place. Talking to older people about their lives and the way Australians live was, for me, the most enjoyable part of the research. But since many of the people who established or worked in Greek cafes are now in their 70's and 80's, don't leave it too long to make time to talk to them." Whats refreshing about Aphrodite and the Mixed Grill is the simple and easy way in which Toni Risson leads us to understand the lives of so many Kytherian-Australians in the twentieth century. Having lived the experience I can testify that her exposition of the experience rings very true. This book will prove particularly valuable to those who have not lived the experience, giving them a clear insight into the Greek-Australian and Kytherian-Australian way of life, as lived in Australian cafes. Toni Risson asserts that “It's just been a privilege for me to meet these people and be trusted with their stories.” Speaking on behalf of Kytherian-Australians it is we who are privileged to have entrusted these stories to her. I know through my editorship of www.kythera-family.net, how many of these stories have already been lost. By her devotion and diligence Toni has managed to preserve and to bring to life many Kytherian and Hellenic stories that would otherwise have been lost. Lets all heed her warning - don't leave it too long to make time to talk to Greek & Kytherian-Australians, who are still alive. Their stories need to be told. Their stories need to be recorded for posterity. I await eagerly, the inevitable publication of 3 or 4 more books on Greek Cafes in 20th century Australia, over the next decade.