4 out of 5 restaurants go out of business every year. Mostly, it's because they're undercapitalized and under planned. Even established restaurants have to deal with the fact that the business is stressful and prone to the vagueries of economic weather.
But even though anyone can get fed at Burgerhoid, or Dickies, or Shark Island, or any other fast food place. White Tablecloth operations will never go out of business.
Dimitrios Karanikas is a lucky man in some ways. He's got a brother who props him up when things are lean. he's got a family that he can lean on for manpower. He's got a relatively stable clientele of the small Greek community in this town. And his restaurant sits squarely on a crossed pair of ley lines. It really is all about location.
Sure, it's caused a problem or two. Spirits seem to congregate. (people say the place is haunted.) There have been a couple of new hires who turned out to be a bit more psychically active than was healthy for them. There have been a number of weird incidents and Magi, Sin Eaters, and Werewolves have taken to keeping an eye on the place. Some to police the spirits, others to transact business with them. There are even a few who have taken to eating there regularly. Because if ANYTHING is true, Dimitrios runs a damn fine restaurant.
The Neighborhood:
The Temple is in one of those sections of town where it seems that most of the restaurants are being kept. There's a healthy mix of fast food and a few other sit-down restaurants. There is a big-box store nearby, (S-mart, if I'm recalling correctly.) which anchors the whole commerce district. The general ambiance of the neighborhood is one of barely restrained energy. Perhaps this is as a result of ley-line leakage. This tends to come out in little ways, Of the restaurant staff that works around here, there is a greater tendency towards cocaine abuse. Diners are impatient as a general rule, and there once was a situation where a guy got out of his car over at the Dickies drive through and shot another guy who was ordering for his entire office.
The Place.
ToA is a stand-alone. The décor is in faux ancient greek. Dimitrios once read years ago that ethnic styled restaurants don’t do very well if they don’t have ethnic decor. One of those quirks of psychology. So the exterior has fake-ass columns, and the interior is all terra-cotta with fake olive branches twisting around everything. One of the many Karanikas’s is a painter and so, she got press-ganged into service creating murals of scenes from greek mythology. This was terribly annoying until a local art collector asked about the artist, Dimitrios gave the collector his cousin’s contact information and now she’s got a good job doing large reproductions. While the wall stuff is all fake, Dimitrios and two friends did all the flooring and tile themselves. (He’s handy that way)
The front is like any standard double glass door foyer you’ll see in any chain place. There is, however, a coat check area about the size of a postage stamp. His sullen Grand-Niece Justina holds court here. She brings her laptop and a portable hot-spot with her because Great Uncle Dimitrios is a fucking dinosaur who has yet to join the 21st century. First timers here don’t know what to make of her, and her purple hair, and the dead eyes she gives most customers. The Regulars just shrug and say, “That’s just her way.” Justina takes a while to warm up to people. Tips help.
Stepping through the doors, one is likely on most evenings, to encounter Rhea Aristides-Karanikas. Normally she is manning the hostess station. There have been other hostesses over the years but none of them have ever really been up to the challenge of this business and Rhea is fast to point this out to them...Until it’s a near constant drumbeat. Those few who have been able to handle the business up to her exacting standards (and the far less exacting standards of everyone else on the staff...) have inevitably fallen into the problem of Rhea suspecting that they are trying to steal her husband.
While Dimitrios is not a bad looking man at all, He’s simply too busy and this is more of a reflection of the fact that Rhea has put on 3 pounds every single year she and Dimitrios have been married and is quietly freaking out about it. (Again, There's nothing wrong with the way Rhea looks either. She not unpretty and Dimitrios likes her curves.) Rhea is one of those poor souls who, for one reason or another, requires a certain amount of tension and drama to surround her world at all times. It’s the only way she knows how to interact with people really. Needless to say, that on the nights that she has off, or any evening where she might actually be ill and stay home, the restaurant is a great deal more relaxed as a general rule. Weirdly, the customers love her. They think she’s colorful and seem to enjoy when she freaks out on their behalf because of some perceived problem with the food or the service.
From the Hostess stand there is a section off to the right where the bar and restrooms are, and to the right and straight back all the way to the far wall of the place is an open space of dining room. The place is sectioned off a bit by 5 foot high walls, but if the place is full, the walls don’t really absorb much sound and it can be hard to hear yourself think.
There are three entrance/exits to the Kitchen area and a second set of restrooms on the far side of the place. Out the back door is loading dock about the size of a large deep freeze, and a ramp down towards the fenced off dumpster.
The Staff:
They are your usual typical restaurant staff. Young. Poor. Preternaturally horny. Afflicted with the sorts of problems that would make a top-flight soap opera. Ramped up on stimulants to get through the shift, and then drunk to take the edge off, or studying until daybreak. or both. The kids that work here know that anyone who has an actual greek surname is likely a relative, and they can fuck up as many times as they want without getting fired permanently. But it has also been noticed that workers who are NOT family and show a certain amount of responsibility will often be promoted over family. Dimitrios learned the hard way to NEVER allow any of his relatives to be the head bartender. He still won’t talk to Lukas at family gatherings. That’s how bad it was. It is instructive to note that most of Dimitrios's hard core line cooks never cooked a greek dish before working here. This doesn’t bother Dimitrios. But for some reason, it does bother Rhea. Most of the line cooks have learned that the best way to deal with Rhea is to go into “Freeze” mode. They stop working and give her the thousand yard stare until finally she stops yapping at them and goes away. Dimitrios only wishes he could get away with that.
The Shadow:
There seems to be a LOT of energy that runs through this place. Not like GLASTONBURY or anything like that, but still noticeable. There has been some idle talk amongst some of the night-folk about whether something ought to be done to divert the flow or leave it be and let nature correct. Naturally, each of the various groups have their own agendas, but at present nobody has wanted to upset the applecart as there is a LOT of attention on the place. Any person or group who made Dimitrios an offer (He won’t sell) or tries to coerce him, would have a lot of night-folk talking. There is at least one greek Uratha who claims the area as his territory. Giorgio loves this place. He may even be a relative. Nobody seems to be sure.
Connections:
* Sheriff Hank Settles Go figure. A simply ask, to keep an eye on the place, evolved into a love of greek cuisine and a desire to eat there at least once a week. Which was fortunate, because Hank was in there one night when some nut with a 22 revolver tried to hold the place up. As a result, Dimitrios says the Sheriff Hank's money is no good here. While Hank doesn't sweat having a free meal from his favorite restaurant, he does see how it affects the Mrs. So he made an agreement with her. He eats for free, but only comes once a week and if he drinks, he pays for the drinks. This made Rhea very happy. As a result, Sheriff Hank is now considered a family friend.
* Rosalie Prescott Rosalie's store is in the same section of town. And since Dimitrios works long nights, he's gotten to know her some. He's one of her regulars.
* John Patmos If he's in town, and needs to take a meeting which involves a meal, He'll have it here. Patmos doesn't NEED to eat. but he can, and on those occasions when he must do so for appearance sake. He'd just as soon have comfort food.
*Lambrose Karanikas Any client who steps into Lambrose's limo and says, "Take me to the finest restaurant in town" get's brought here of course. Some get annoyed. Most try it out, Many are pleasantly surprised.
*Milo Karanikas Most people in the family are aware that Milo is making money doing something shady. Mostly, this doesn't bother them. But if someone needs to film a commercial, he's the first one they turn to, and his commercials LOOK professional grade. Dimitrios has however had a strong talk with Milo about chatting with the young women in his employ. A meat cleaver was involved in that discussion. Milo doesn't trouble the waitresses here. Nope.
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