When Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés arrived in Mexico in 1519, he ordered his men to burn their boats, making it clear that there was no turning back.
When Demetri Patitsas lost his job at Amazon last spring, he took a lesson from the popular motivational book “Burn the Boats” by Matt Higgins. Figuratively, he burned his boat.
“Amazon gave me the greatest gift, to be honest, when they laid me off last spring,” said Patitsas who along with his wife, Calli, recently opened The Greek Shack food truck. “It gave me the motivation. We had no other plan. This is it,” he explained. “So, we went in full force,” he added.
Patitsas and his wife purchased an 18-foot food trailer and leased the former Butcher Bob’s location at 683 S. Mountain Blvd. with its indoor and outdoor seating and commercial kitchen.
“We want people to feel they are getting a taste of Greece, but that they also are in Greece,” he said of his food offerings.
Patitsas said he and his family, who reside in the Mountain Top area, are excited about bringing Greek food to the area.
“If you come here and feel joy and connection, it’s because were trying to do our best to offer that. We’re not leaving that up to chance,” the father of five said.
While Patitsas has been involved in other entrepreneurships throughout his life, including a mobile ice cream business that helped put him through college, it’s the first time he ventured into the Greek food business.
“My wife and I have grown up serving, volunteering and being part of Greek food festivals and fairs all our lives,” he explained. “It’s just part of how our faith community supports itself. And so, we’ve been around Greek food both at home. We’ve been around Greek food in our Orthodox Christian community and in our own little pursuits with friends and family who always ask for our pastries, desserts and signature holiday dishes.”
The tagline under the Greek Food Shack’s line reads, “Faith, Family, Friends and Fabulous Food.”
Connecting with his family’s deep faith, at The Greek Shack’s recent ribbon cutting, Rev. Daniel Meschter, pastor of Christ the Savior Russian Orthodox Church, Sugar Notch, performed a blessing of the food truck and restaurant building prior to the ribbon cutting. A good friend, Greg Christakis, presented him with a serving fork he used at his hot dog and kebob cart he manned at Canal and Varick streets in New York City from 1975 to 1990, putting himself through college with the business and serving over two million hot dogs and kebobs.
The Greek Shack is open Tuesday through Saturday at 683 S. Mountain Blvd. events and at various public and private events throughout the area.
