A Little Background
Chef Georgios (George) Liaros was born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1964 from parents Panayiotis (Peter) and Anastasia Liaros, who had emigrated to Canada from their native Greece a few years earlier.
A young George in Greece
In 1965, he went to live with his grandparents Georgios and Persephone Liaros on his father's native island Elafonissos near the most southern peninsula of mainland Greece. His grandparents had owned and operated a small eatery there since the early 1930s.
George and his Grandmother
"The taste of great food has influenced my palate from a very young age", says Georgios. "I remember Pappou and Yaya both being great cooks, using the plethora of local seafood with seasonal produce to create local dishes which sometimes brought many people into the eatery."
George and his Grandfather
In 1969 he reunited with his parents who had returned to Greece so his father could join the Greek Orthodox Church as a priest.
"Another great influence in my love for food is to this day my mom," Georgios continues. "She has not only been preparing nutritious home cooked meals for the last fifty years for our family, but has being following the 10km Radius Diet religiously. Speaking about religion and because she is the wife of the priest, she has cooked according to the Greek Orthodox dietary calendars that is a very healthy meal planning and preparation system which includes fasts and abstinence from certain foods throughout the year.
"Mom was fortunate because she learned from Grandpa to cook all the local seafood delicacies, including htapothi crasato or xithato (octopus in wine or vinegar). Grandpa had a large following between locals and 'xenous' (foreigners) for his delicacies, which included a whole variety of local seasonal seafood, sun-dried or cured with sea salt and preserved in olive oil."
After his grandparents retired in 1977, he got his first job preparing pork souvlakis for his cousin's café bar during the summer months and the tourist season.
"It was quite the experience. Here I am, 13 years of age, preparing a couple hundred souvlakis skewers a day, by hand in the afternoon, and then cooking and selling them after 10 p.m. to all the patrons of the bar who were in a really good mood by that time. I made a ton of tips as I remember. That job was a milestone for me, because it put the entrepreneurial bug into my brain."
In 1981 Georgios decided to visit the land of his birth. "There are two things which influenced my career as a restauranteur during that time. Working at McDonald's and bussing tables at my uncle's 350-seat restaurant in Lavalle, Quebec. McDonald's opened my eyes as far as using consistency as a system to work with, and the Scalopinatta taught me about the hierarchy in the kitchen. They had 30 chefs and everyone had a specific job to do."
George, his mother, sister and Uncle Christos
In 1982 he returned back to Greece to join the army where he end up managing the camp restaurant with 5 chefs feeding 800 soldiers 3 times a day. He also had the opportunity to explore the Northern Greek cuisine by visiting the local restaurants and bars every weekend, having a great time. In 1983 he got his first job in the cruise ship industry.
"For a young 19 year old, cruising the Mediterranean from Piraeus to Rhodes, to Crete, to Corfu, to Dubrovnik, to Venus on a weekly basis, making a couple thousand American dollars a month at the time, experiencing the different ports and meeting thousands of passengers on the way, it was fun! Although I worked as a bartender, I had the opportunity to get a taste of a different type of cuisine. The ship had about 200 chefs working on a daily basis, producing dishes out of this world. There I saw creativity I had never seen before."
In 1986 he opened his first real business: a café bar on the island of Elafonisos.
George's first real enterprise with friend Greg
"It was there that I got my first taste what it means to pay your own bills. The place was busy and we threw a lot of parties during that season. The problem was that the business was seasonal. Also, I had a business partner who did not really have his heart in it."
After this venture in 1988 he decided to return to Montreal to study English and change careers by becoming a teacher. On the way, he ran a pizza take-out business in Montreal.
"I guess my decision of becoming a teacher had to do with me returning to Greece and starting a private language school because it had potential to be a year-round business. Obviously my eagerness to own my own restaurant was stronger and thus, I dropped the course two weeks before I graduated. Plus during that time I met Anne and everything changed."
After spending the next year in Montreal, George and Anne decided to come to Canada's west coast.
"I remember getting a job as a line cook at a high-volume Japanese restaurant and for the first time experiencing the influence of California style cooking. Although the owner was Japanese and of course used a lot of traditional dishes, he was a big advocate of incorporating California-style presentation to his menu. I guess these were the first seeds planted to find a way to cook Greek food with a west coast influence."
In 1993 he joined Pagliaccis in Nanaimo where he worked as a waiter at first and then a prep chef for the next couple of years.
"What a great atmosphere! The place was full of ambience and the food, although basically pasta, was served with fresh ingredients and a home made touch. It was really going to the show every day and night."
In 1995 he joined the Earls team in Nanaimo as a chef.
"Earls taught me the ways of the force. I was 32 years of age at the time with a lot of experience in different aspects of the business but really scattered. Earls taught me organization, implementing a system to your work, developing the recipe, mis en place, presentation, using fresh ingredients... I mean nothing older then three days stayed in the restaurant. No freezers! I had learned the fresh local concept by osmosis, growing up in a Greek island, but Earls helped me lay the foundation of how to organize it in a restaurant setting. What a great school!"
In 1998 he joined Romeos in Nanaimo.
"Romeos is a place where I had a lot of fun. I stayed with them until 2004, when I decided to go on my own." In 2004 he leased the Cafeteria at the Malaspina campus in Duncan.
"I stayed there for three seasons making friends and cooking for the students and staff. It was a good time preparing me for later, understanding how to run your own business."
In 2005 he leased the concession stand at Transfer Beach in Ladysmith.
Concession stand at Transfer Beach
"I stayed there for four seasons. The concession became my business laboratory. I received a business that had developed a beach food clientele, and in four years it helped me understand the local market then turn it into a little Greek restaurant. Customers become loyal if you are willing to meet their needs, be consistent with your product and offer them value for their dollar.
"The concession stand set the stage for our success at the present location of the Transfer Beach Grill. It helped us expose our food to many many people, from all over the place.
"It was the support of the local folk which has helped us through all these years and the friendships we have been able to develop that have made Transfer Beach Grill a success story. I feel obliged to continue serving the area with quality food as a token of appreciation and thanks for all the support we have received all these years."
In October 2008 Transfer Beach Grill opened its doors, and since then Chef/Owner Georgios Liaros and his family have been serving food prepared with his favourite southern Greek island style using fresh seasonal local ingredients.
Transfer Beach Grill, Ladysmith
"I am grateful," concludes Georgios, "to be able to use my gifts and talents to serve so many people with my family every day. Although it is hard work running a restaurant, I feel privileged to be able to do so, and I hope people will keep coming to enjoy the food, the atmosphere and a glass of wine at Transfer Beach Grill!"
Make your reservation today on (250) 245-1211 or with your comments.
