Committee For Lorne: Memories of Chris’s Restaurant a Lorne icon

This week, we feature a trip down memory lane for many people who remember Lorne a few decades ago. George Biron most recently chef at the iconic Sunnybrae Restaurant at Birregurra, (now Brae), recounts his experiences of working at Chris’s Restaurant in Lorne in the 1980s. Chris Talihmanidis ran the restaurant until the development of the new Cumberland commenced and then went on to establish Chris’s at Beacon Point Lodge at Skenes Creek. In part one of his article, George Biron reflects on life at Chris’s Restaurant during what was to be the last summer at the restaurant:

I was a latecomer to Chris’s. This little unpretentious 40 seat café had already made its name for decades as the place to be in Lorne for honest simple grills and sensational seafood. Chris would start the day early at the pier bagging the best seafood of the day, big sacks of crayfish, tubs of proper calamari. Gemfish was the most popular fish du jour. He would make Kakavia, the Greek fisherman’s soup, pure pistachio Baklava and a mess of chocolate mousse before finalising all the orders and preparing breakfast for his elderly parents who came from Greece for the southern summer. By the time I started my day around 3pm Chris had already ensconced himself at the sidewalk table spruiking the day to the passing parade of regulars booking tables and running to and fro to the TAB for the day’s bets.

Stevie, Sammy and all the other Greek old boys who ran the café scene in Lorne would gently break each other’s balls over coffee and gossip. Kosta, Chris’s younger brother, would often call in to “borrow” a few crays and take the parents up the road to his café to see the grandchildren.

This summer was different; the pressure was on from the big developers. David Mariner was hovering. He had to get Christos to sell up to realise his big development. A serious charm offensive. Eventually he made an offer too good to refuse and the countdown was on.

The staff were a motley crew of local grommets, super smart university students and a few experienced hospitality tragics. Many lived or camped out the back of the shop.

It was a small restaurant with a small kitchen that did seriously big numbers. A big thick flat grill ruled as the kitchen piano. Chris had a remarkably simple system of service that echoed how Chinese restaurants worked. One of the young Einsteins would receive the orders and place the raw produce; a bowl of scallops, a couple of steaks, a clutch of calamari and give it to the cooks while verballing the whole service to the two cooks on the grill and stove. Aboyeur and Garde Manger in one. Crays were dispatched to order with a swift cut through the head down the centre for a quick death before going on the grill or under the salamander.

The caller had to have the skills of an air traffic controller and the patience of a saint to talk through the often three sittings that would smash us on the grill every night in the season. The seafood was simply seasoned with garlic, oil salt and pepper. Broiled on the flat top and served. The crays were the same or finished with a brandy sauce made “a la minute” for each one. There was a real Greek salad with the finest Fetta and good herbs and the famous roast potato.

Stay tuned next week for more of George’s recollections of Chris’s Restaurant and the secret of the “roast potato”.