EUGENE

The founder of Eugene's Greek Restaurant, Evgeni (Eugene) Vassiliadis arrived in Victoria from his home in the bustling port of Piraeus (outside of Athens) with wife Paschalina (Lina) and two young sons, Elefterios (Terry) and Pantelis (Lee) in November 1974. Only nine-year old Terry understood English and was able to help other family members to settle in... From the very beginning Eugene had a vision to open a traditional Greek Souvlaki Snack Bar in Victoria. However, having arrived in Victoria with only 2 suitcases and a trunk, Eugene began working as a brick-layer, his trade in Greece, in order to support his young family... To supplement the family's income, Eugene began working in local Greek restaurants by night and took what construction jobs he could during the day. He quickly became head chef of a local Greek Restaurant and soon Lina-an excellent cook herself-joined him. They worked side-by-side until Eugene got a great job offer in Edmonton and for a year he worked there,..