Headline, Industry News

Family Restaurant second season

Friday September 29th 2006

EDMONTON (CP) _ The Food Network’s reality series Family Restaurant focuses on the joys and trials of running such a business. But as the show begins its second season Monday, it’s all about the donkey.

"Ah, the donkey," recalls patriarch Yianni Psalios, exchanging meaningful glances around the table with his son Theo and son-in-law Chris St. Denis.

"The donkey was a problem."

Family Restaurant follows the adventures of the four Psalioses _ Yianni, wife Kally, daughter Dina and son Theo _ and their significant others as they live amidst the chaos and laughter of home and the string of Greek restaurants they own in Edmonton.

The first season saw the clan deal with issues familiar to any family-run business _ except here it’s in the high-pressure and very public world of the restaurant industry.

But what set the show apart were the characters: the big-thinking, gregarious Yianni; loyal but long-suffering Kally; Theo, the maturing party boy; and Dina who’s coming to terms with her role in a business she’s not crazy about but that her husband-to-be loves.

Those personalities are on full display in the show’s season opener, in which Yianni plans Dina and Chris’s wedding. Which brings us to the donkey.

For his only daughter, Yianni insists on a traditional Greek wedding in the Cypriot village of his birth. This involves hiring musicians, caterers, etc. _ for two or three days of celebrations, and for up to 4,000 guests.

"Yes, we really did have three or four thousand guests," sighs Kally.

And that was the easy part.

Greek Cypriot tradition stipulates the groom should ride to the church on a flower-bedecked donkey. However, no marriage in Yianni’s village had followed this tradition in 30 years, and rental donkeys, flower-bedecked or otherwise, were in short supply.

Tune in to find out how things work out. Suffice to say that the St. Denis-Psalios wedding made Cyprus’s national news.

"It was fun. It was intense," says Chris.

Not every couple has their wedding video broadcast on national TV, and not every family conducts its business _ "the middle of the battle," as Chris says _ as the cameras run, even during the spats and squabbles.

"The cameras were there when we were throwing plates _ oops!" says Yianni.

The guys are used to it, and even ham it up a bit.

"You want the product to be good," says Theo with a sly grin.

Kally says she prefers to stay in the background. "It’s not always fun. I don’t need everyone to know what’s going on."

Theo admits his girlfriend Angela _ who becomes his fiance this season _ isn’t always crazy about living in a TV show, either.

"She’s a good sport and happy to be involved, but if she had her choice she would probably prefer not to."

It helps that the crew from Anaid Productions respects the family’s privacy when they insist on it, says Chris.

The show isn’t bad for business, either, Theo admits.

"We’re becoming tourist attractions," he says.

It also helps to know that 10 years from now, Yianni and Kally will be able to sit down _ perhaps with some grandchildren _ and watch an unparalleled memento of two years in the life of the Psalioses.

"I’d like their kids to see it," says Yianni, motioning toward his son, who isn’t even married yet.

"I think it’s pretty amazing, how they can have their life documented like that," says Theo, gesturing back toward to his father.

There has been plenty to document.

Aside from Chris and Dina’s wedding, there will be Theo and Angela’s engagement and wedding. Yes, the cameras did follow Theo to Las Vegas for his stag party.

At work, Yianni will close one of his restaurants. He’ll also find himself back in the kitchen after finding himself one night completely without a cook.

And there will be lots of patented Psalios moments.

"This family," says Theo, shaking his head. "It can get pretty crazy."