The Ritz Cafe, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
George Minas Kallinicos came to Australia in 1935 at the age of 16. He came from the village of Fratsia. George was ‘apprenticed’ in cafés in Mitchell and Toowoomba before he and his cousin, Kosmas Kallinicos, converted a warehouse in Bell Street, Ipswich, in 1942. The new shop was situated approximately on the site of the present food court, and was called the Ritz Café. On leaving the army in 1947, George returned to the café and bought out his cousin’s share. In 1951, he went to Kythera and entered an arranged marriage with Demetra and they had three sons — Minas, Manuel, and John.
The café was situated next door to a stylish new theatre. The Ritz Theatre, which opened in 1940, was the first air-conditioned picture theatre outside of Brisbane and featured Dunlopillo foam latex sets (the seats in the Wintergarden were wooden) and a ‘symphony’ of coloured Neon lights controlled by a dimmer switch. In keeping with the Art Deco elegance of the theatre, the Ritz Café was decked out in cream and green, with black glass, mirrors, and lots of chrome.84 Manuel Kallinicos remembers that café staff and children would begin frantically rolling chips in newspaper five minutes before intermission, in readiness for the onslaught to come.
Manuel also recalls the rock and roll dance competitions, which were sometimes held on Friday nights at the Ritz Theatre in the 50's60's; he particularly remembers the men with pointed shoes, slicked back hair, tight pants, and matchboxes tucked into their sleeves. Several residents commented that farmers on their weekly trips to town tended to patronise one café in particular. Manuel recalls that for farmers from Fernvale, Lowood, and Esk, it was the Ritz Café, and they usually came on Wednesdays and Thursdays. “People would have the same meal every week.”
Like many other cafés, the Ritz had an extensive confectionery counter and milk bar on one side near the entry to the shop. Until it was gutted and refurbished in the early 60s, the cafe had a raised area filled with tables at the back of the café. The cubicles were also taken out during renovations to allow greater flexibility, and Peters Ice Cream installed a new stainless steel milk bar and refrigeration unit. Like the City Café, the Ritz had an upstairs function room, where weddings were held in the 40's and 50's. George renovated the upstairs area in the 50's and operated it as a billiard parlour, where cribbage and five hundred and listening to the races were favourite pastimes. The Kallinicos family ran the café until 1968, when the building was sold to Cribb and Foote and finally consumed in the Kern redevelopment in the 80's.
Pages 56-57, Aphrodite and the Mixed Grill.
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