Family, Food, and Windex

Family, Food, and Windex

Yes, food is a very important component of Greek culture. Beyond the delicious dishes is the underlying truth that food brings families together.

When Geoff Patmides was a young Crete boy, he wanted his family to be together. He lost his father very early, and his mother was young herself. She had to be the breadwinner and was often away for work, leaving Geoff to be raised primarily by his grandparents.

Picture a Greek yiayia (grandmother) in your head, and you’ve likely got it right. Geoff grew up in a traditional Greek household, and his yiayia cooked the family dinner every night. According to a reliable source (the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding), they also used Windex to cure everything.

When his mother was home to share in the family meal, young Geoff noted that she loved his grandmother’s food. And thus Geoff’s training as a chef began while he was an elementary school–aged child.

The loss of a father and an often-absent mother can be hard for a young lad to understand. If he could learn to cook like his yiayia, perhaps his mom would stay around or even take him with her?

His grandmother’s cooking was hard to master. Elderly Greek ladies don’t use cookbooks, instead relying on their senses and experience to perfect their art. Geoff’s desire to earn love and acceptance from his mother began a journey that would eventually take him halfway around the world for training, education, and opportunity.

Authentic Greek Cuisine

The Local Greek is Geoff’s authentic Greek kitchen. What was once a catering side gig has blossomed into an award-winning restaurant.

In traditional Greek fashion, the restaurant is a family affair. In the role of Executive Chef, Geoff leads his small tribe while his lovely wife, Mia, is everywhere at once as she manages orders, assists in cooking, and keeps everything operating efficiently. Their five children all contribute, and other relatives lend a hand from time to time as well.

The older Patmides kids prepare vegetables (properly licensed!), work the register, and serve customers. The younger kids do their part by clearing tables and cleaning dishes. Geoff says their help is important. They help the restaurant run smoothly, and learn valuable lessons like how to earn.

Food brings families together. You may not have your own chef or yiayia to lay out an authentic Greek meal for your family, but that’s alright. Geoff Patmides has brought the Greek to SLC, and he would love to have you come by the Local Greek and be a part of his family.

Congrats to the 2021 Best of SLC Finalists

2021 finalistsAfter reviewing tens of thousands of votes cast for the 2021 Best of SLC nominees, we’re happy to announce the finalists for each category. Since voting ended on May 12th, we’ve been hard at work confirming the results.

This year, votes were cast with ballots secured through text message verification, and the finalists were vetted by the Better Business Bureau. We’re confident that these rock-solid results represent the Best of SLC.

When Will the Winners be Announced?

We’re almost there! While the top vote-getters move on as finalists, votes alone aren’t enough to take home the gold. We’re tabulating the number of 5-star reviews from the last year and the ratings for each finalist. This review score will be added to the votes for each finalist to determine a final score.

finalist 2021

*Simulated finalist

 

Winners will be announced at the Best of SLC Awards Banquet* on June 15th-16th, 2021. Finalists will be invited to purchase tickets for the celebration. The banquet includes a red carpet entrance, a fancy dinner, photos, and other special prizes and opportunities. Congratulations to all of our finalists for the 2021 Best of SLC Awards!

2021 Finalists

How to Truly Attend Your Own Event

It’s ironic that one of the happiest days in a person’s life can also be the most stressful. For weddings (and other big events), the people with the greatest cause for celebration are often so busy that they are unable to truly celebrate!

“When we started catering, weddings were especially a challenge. We’d talk to the families afterward and they often didn’t enjoy the experience, even if the food was exquisite,” said Kelly Christensen of Caley’s Catering & Events. “They’d be up all night preparing or breaking down, too tired to go to the reception, and just too busy to enjoy the wedding.”

The Turning Point

In an attempt to lighten the load for one bride’s parents, Kelly picked up the mic to handle announcements and keep things organized. Their response? “Oh, I feel so relieved!”

At that moment, Kelly and his cofounder, Caley, realized the direction in which they needed to shift their business. They were to expand beyond just providing delicious food by becoming the one-stop shop for life’s special occasions.

In the Same Boat as You!

Since their first events 24 years ago, Caley’s Catering has had many opportunities to sample their own wares, including Kelly and Caley’s oldest daughter getting married. Kelly approached their team and had them use the same process for his family as they would a regular customer.

He said, “As parents, we didn’t have to do anything!” They were able to take a hands-off approach to planning, while the rest of the team orchestrated a wedding fit for a Disney princess.

Attend Your Own Event

However, Caley’s is so much more than catering. Even “full service” fails to describe them adequately.

No detail is too small; you might even say they specialize in the little things. There are a thousand details that need to be seen to during a wedding, and Caley’s Catering & Events doesn’t want those details to distract you from the big day. Let them see to the little stuff so that you can attend your own event.

Best of SLC Presents Your 2020 Finalists!

After reviewing approximately a gazillion (give or take a little) votes cast for the 2020 Best of SLC nominees, we’re happy to announce the finalists for each category. Since voting ended on April 24th, we’ve been hard at work confirming the results.

This year, votes were cast with ballots secured through text message verification, and the finalists were vetted by the Better Business Bureau. We’re confident that these rock-solid results represent the Best of SLC.

When Will the Winners be Announced?

We’re almost there! While the top vote-getters move on as finalists, votes alone aren’t enough to take home the gold. We’re tabulating the number of 5-star reviews from the last year and the ratings for each finalist. We expect to be able to announce the 2020 Best of SLC winners the first week of June.

Votes + 5-star Reviews + Review Rating = Final Score

2020 finalists

Congratulations to all of our finalists for the 2020 Best of SLC Awards!

2020 FINALISTS

Presenting Your 2019 Best of SLC Finalists!

After reviewing more than 100,000 votes cast for the nominees, we’re happy to announce the 2019 Best of SLC™ finalists for each category. Since voting ended on April 4th, we’ve been hard at work confirming the results.

The finalists earned their spots by receiving enough votes from the community to place in the top three of their respective categories. To protect the integrity of the contest, we used software and good old human detective work to remove fraudulent and duplicate votes (see the rules).

When Will the Winners be Announced?

We’re almost there! While the top vote-getters move on as finalists, votes alone aren’t enough to take home the gold. We’ll now start tabulating the number of 5-star reviews from the last year and ratings for each finalist. We expect to be able to announce the 2019 Best of SLC™ winners on May 7th.

Votes + 5-Star Reviews + Review Rating = Final Score

 

checkbox

Nominations

checkbox

Votes

counting reviews

Reviews (← we are here)

 

Congratulations to all of our Best of SLC™ finalists for 2019!

2019 Best of SLC Finalists