source : the age
Shaking with anger, Eleftheria Amanatidis looked at her phone on Monday morning and sighed. “How could this have happened again,” she wondered.
Amanatidis says she and her family gathered in the front of their Yarraville restaurant – Eleni’s Kitchen and Bar – in disbelief after it fell victim to a firebombing for the second time in less than a year.
The owners outside Eleni’s Greek Kitchen and Bar in Yarraville on Monday.Credit: Jason South
“I was in panic and shock, and just anger that this has happened again,” Amanatidis told The Age. “It was just the same feelings as last time. I think everyone’s just a bit shaken – obviously not something that we were expecting to see on Easter Monday morning.”
A car was rammed into the back of the Canterbury Street restaurant about 4.20am on Monday, before its occupants set the vehicle alight. The offenders then fled in another vehicle.
Firefighters controlled the blaze within 20 minutes, but not before it spread to the restaurant’s outdoor dining area.
The fire has been deemed suspicious, and police will investigate. The incident comes after a fire at Eleni’s on June 28, 2024, which also caused minor damage to Jimmy’s Deli next door.
A Toyota Landcruiser was driven into the rear of the restaurant and torched in the early hours of Easter Monday.Credit: Jason South
Amanatidis started Eleni’s eight years ago before opening Jimmy’s in 2023, naming the businesses after her grandmother and grandfather respectively.
She was woken by an alarm on her phone when Monday’s fire started, alerting her of damage to the roller shutters that she installed as extra security after the fire last June.
The family has been involved in several Yarraville restaurants dating back to 1971, including the suburb’s first-ever Greek restaurant, along with a pizza shop, a delicatessen and a butcher. These catered to Melbourne’s growing Greek population at the time.
“The businesses came about because both myself and my sister wanted to be able to show the community what we grew up with and share our culture and our family history,” Amanatidis said.
Dishes at Eleni’s, which reopened late last year after an initial firebombing.Credit: Chege Mbuthi
The first fire at Eleni’s also inspired Amanatidis to write a cookbook, Ela na Fame, which was released just four days ago.
Amanatidis said the last she had heard from police was that the investigation into the first fire was still ongoing.
She said she wasn’t sure why the business had been targeted twice.
“Generally [Yarraville] is pretty safe, but it [crime] is sort of a growing issue throughout Melbourne now,” she said.
Eleni’s was open for lunch on Easter Sunday, and preparations were underway for another busy week of public holidays before the latest firebombing.
Now Amanatidis and her family face another uncertain wait before their restaurant can open again.
“It really depends on when power and gas can be reconnected, so that’s not up to us, but Jimmy’s Deli will probably be back up and running this week,” she said.
Amanatidis said it was too early to know how much damage had been done in terms of financial cost.
“The community has been messaging all pretty much in support: that they’re thinking of us and can’t wait to see us up and running again.”
Get alerts on significant breaking news as it happens. Sign up for our Breaking News Alert.
