I found him in Apollo Bay, a small coastal town on the Great Ocean Road, at his restaurant, greeting customers with a warm smile and refilling their glasses with water.
Chris, as he asked me to call him, remains humble, although Hollywood personalities like Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Oprah Winfrey and the Australian comedian Barry Humphries are only some of the popular personalities to have devoured his culinary creations.
A few years ago, his restaurant was voted among the best 500 restaurants in Australia (2016 list of Australia’s Top Restaurants by Qantas and AFR), it was awarded one hat from the Age Good Food Guide and it ranks on top of Trip Advisor’s Fine Dining Destinations in Apollo Bay, with a certificate of Excellence.
Chargrilled Crayfish with lemon/buttersauce. A Chris's classic since 1972 Source: SBS Greek
But who is Chris?
He was a young migrant, a bit over 20 years of age when he arrived in Australia. He left Goumenissa, a small town in central Macedonia, Northern Greece and came to Australia to explore his love of good food, load his luggage with experiences and go back to Greece to open a restaurant.
“I was initially planning on going to Sweden. But my family told me I would soon return as Sweden is too close to Greece, so I came here,” said Chris.
He fell in love with Lorne, due to its proximity to the ocean he so loves and the beautiful landscape. This is where he bought his first restaurant in 1974 and he became well known not only for his Mediterranean dishes all prepared with local produce and seafood but also for his legendary hospitality.
«I was the first one in the area to put tables on the restaurant’s patio and prohibit smoking in my restaurant. This was revolutionary at the time,» said Mr. Talihmanidis.
Chris's original restaurant in Lorne Source: Supplied
In May 2003, the restaurant got burnt down right before his eyes, due to a fire that started in the kitchen and Chris was devastated. But his legacy was not meant to end there. He decided to build a bigger and better restaurant on the ashes of the one that had just burnt down.
“The harder you bounce a ball to earth, the higher it will bounce back up towards the sky,” said Mr. Talihmanidis
Seven months later he opened the new restaurant where it stands to date, overlooking the Bass Strait.
«When my father started his restaurant in Apollo Bay, we were in the middle of nowhere. He worked really hard to achieve what he has achieved so far,» said Taki, Chris’s son.
Chris Talihmanidis Source: Supplied
Chris Talihmanidis, is not only a well-known restaurateur. In his career he worked at the historic Mount Buffalo Chalet, the Southern Aurora, an overnight express passenger train that operated between Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne and he claims to be the first Greek who joined the Australian Antarctic Division as a cook.
I asked him if he would like to give a piece of advice to new migrants in Australia and this is what he said: “Be sincere. Sincerity can’t be hidden”.
For 46 years now, Chris wakes up every morning and bakes the bread for his guests himself. He also visits Greece on an annual basis.
