It was obvious to Vincenzo that Con & Dion Lazaridis had either previously owned a café or some type of restaurant. As he stepped into the white interior, he had a sense of stepping back in time. A time when he had owned the place, a time when it suited his sensibility to be a proud business owner. That's what he had been most of his life - self-employed. Now, he could look on with a critical eye, but as his head moved around, his eyeballs popped. The frontage had been remodeled with large glass doors concertinaed to open, he guessed, as patio doors into the street for the bay's cool breezes. He noticed a small bar area to the right decorated with comfortable stools, red-plush chairs, Greek photos and paintings. He liked what he saw and smelled. Everything was FRESH! He was mildly amused when Con asked him if he liked "foreign foods." He had the appetizer sampler, and the Greek platter. The salad was fresh, crisp and perfect. The appetizer was flavoursome and well balanced. The gyro meat and chicken skewer were cooked exactly as he liked them - slightly crispy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside. This was certainly a step up from the cafe's last cuisine and the dirty place he had known as Joe Pendlebury's. While the Greek boys' service was fast he had previously noticed that the courtyard along Memorial Drive no longer had any outdoor dining. The old gate had been bricked in.
Early on, and wanting to check the state of Joe's patchwork, he had only been able to see tufts of weeds through a tiny crack. It would be impossible now to discuss the mural, let alone find easy access to it. It also annoyed him that it was obscure to the general public, kept out of sight. His artwork sealed away!
After an hour he was served coffee and Dion the elder of the two brothers sat down opposite Vincenzo. He poured the coffee and both men sipped it back, their nostrils twitching. Their voices in pleasant moans and groans.
'Makes me want to adopt Greece as my own country,' said Vincenzo.
'If Socrates was alive today, he would enjoy this coffee. A little pita with Tsatziki, some Ouzo maybe. No hemlock cocktail for him.'
'Ha, too right. You not use that outdoor much?' said Vincenzo, gesturing his thumb backwards towards the side courtyard.
'Nah,' said Con. 'Got enough to do in here, besides it doesn't look good.'
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