Gyros revolution of Sydney

Growing up in Sydney, my generation (1980s) used to excitedly wait for parents or relatives to take us to the 'yeeros' shop for a treat. And how appetising they were, satisfying the tastebuds and that early evening hunger! Sydney had a number of gyros shops back then, from Beverly Hills to Newtown. Then one day they started closing, leaving only a small group to trade in Kingsgrove, Marrickville and Coogee. As time marched on, they became icons and a nod to our childhoods.

Fast forward to 2015 and Sydney has experienced a renaissance, a revolution. Over the past 12 months there has been a real trend, a rush, for gyros shops to spring up across the areas of Sydney with a traditional Greek population.

This rush has been welcomed by many a grateful Greek and traveller to the Greek world. For you see, it has become fashionable to be Greek again, and just as fashionable to be eating one of the best exports of modern Greece.

Sydney resident Anthony Mathews and his parea told me recently that when they were growing up, they occasionally struggled for acceptance to be 'Greek,' sometimes hiding their identity. Yet over the years, I was told, "as more people from Australia have gone to Greece or Cyprus, they have seen how incredible it is. They have sat at a gyros table and enjoyed it, now they want to relive it."

This statement can go a long way to explain the recent boom. Perhaps as the mining boom has come to a close, we now have a 'boom' in the Greek gyros industry of Sydney.

At the start of 2014, I can recall having a gyros with my friend Arthur Selimiotis, with whom I had been to Greece many times. We reminisced about how good the old style 'yeeros' experience was in Sydney, though it would be amazing to truly replicate what the Greek islands offer. From my experience, I have had gyros in places such as Byzantium Cafe and Westfield in London or Astoria in New York and I wondered when the modern gyros would make its way to Sydney.

What is a gyros?

For the uninitiated, gyros in Sydney is usually served in a large pita bread with tomato, onion and tzatziki (unless you have to return to the office). And you are usually greeted by a hard working owner who migrated to Australia all those years ago to try their luck in this country.

Enter my favourite gyros shop from my childhood (Charcoal Chickens and Yeeros, Kingsgrove) and you will be met by a vertical 'souvla' which turns, operated by an electric broiler. All the gyros shops have this as a standard way of operating and making gyros. And for the last 16 years, the two brothers, Nick and Archie Mihalatos, and their family have been delivering a fine traditional Greek Aussie gyros offering with beef and chicken.

Just down the road in Kingsgrove, which is undergoing a Greek renaissance itself with the opening of Greek owned shops, a different gyros outlet has opened, Kefi. This one offers more of the modern Greece variety, with smaller pita bread. Marrickville was the only other suburb which had two gyros shops, although rumour has it that Mascot will soon have a second and as I type Brighton can now add The Hellenic as the second gyros outlet.

As an aside, gyros was most likely developed by the Greek speakers of Bursa (Turkey) in the 1800s. The Greek refugees brought this across to Greece in the 1920s.

Turkish people themselves are exponents of the 'kebab', which is similar to that of the old style Sydney gyros, though they use thinner bread, tabouli and homous as a staple of their offering.

MEET, OR SHOULD I SAY MEAT, SOME OF THE GYROS REVOLUTIONARIES

I laughed when one of the owners, Con Boucas, of the Belmore based Yiro Yiro Greek Street Food which opened in late 2014. told me that occasionally customers "walk in and ask for a kebab".

"We politely explain the difference between the two and how kebab is a whole different product on the Greek menu," he says.

Con is an example of the new breed of Greek gyros owners. Firstly, his business doesn't use the name 'yeeros', it is using the more internationally known term of gyros/yiro. This version of the name is especially famous in the Balkans and North America.

The new style of owner seems to have a wide array of career pathways and owns the business with multiple partners, usually younger people. Con has managed a juice bar in Gibraltar and told me that he was once a stand-up comic in Kos; having seen a YouTube clip of him two years ago, I know he does bring a sense of joy and entertainment to his workplace. This sentiment was echoed by Katrina, a young migrant from Greece, who seems to relish an environment where staff and customers are happy to share a unique experience - the gyros experience.

As a fan of the Bulldogs, and being in the heart of the Bulldogs territory, it was reassuring to see that the magazi (shop) acknowledges the make-up of its suburb, with an array of graffiti art adorning the walls (Belmore is known for graffiti art) and images of the team insignia. Disappointingly, Con actually supports another team!

I was in Mytilene in 2014 having a frappé with my old school friend and fellow Bulldogs fan, Chris. He had some news to tell me.

"Billy... (I waited patiently for his excitement to calm down), I'm finally doing it, I am going to open up a gyros outlet," he said.

It was music to my ears, as I could see how enthusiastic Chris is for Greek culinary delights, and the fact that he was in finance and a manager of NRL stars such as Ben Roberts, I wondered how he would fit it all in. My doubts were eradicated when I visited Plateia - Where Friends Meet in Potts Point.