HENDERSONVILLE – George and Marie Baxevanis opened their first restaurant in Winston-Salem in 1979 with just $84.
“Thanks to my parents, working hard comes naturally to me. I was born in 1980. I’ve worked in the restaurant industry my whole life…I was born into it,” Alex Baxevanis, 43, told the Times-News on Nov. 24, just weeks before he and his wife, Ashleigh, 34, planned to open Feta Flav Greek Taverna, a Greek food restaurant in the Blue Ridge Commons shopping center at 2111 Asheville Highway.
“You have to want it and you have to work for it,” George Baxevanis said.
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For three years, Alex and Ashleigh Baxevanis have operated the popular Feta Flav food truck, making stops at many area breweries. On November 24, after stopping at the site of their future restaurant, they were preparing the truck to go to the Burning Blush brewery in Mills River.
“It’s still a lot of work, but it’s worth it,” Alex Baxevanis said.
His Greek heritage
George and Marie Baxevanis are the former owners of Fisherman’s Quarters in Hendersonville. George Baxevanis is from Athens, Greece. He came to America at age 24 in 1979 and married Marie.
That’s when they opened Neptune, a seafood restaurant in Winston-Salem. Although they opted for seafood in their restaurants, they always kept foods representing George’s Greek heritage on the menu.
“I took inspiration from my mother, grandmother and great-grandmother’s recipes,” George Baxevanis said.
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His son is doing the same for the food truck as well as the new restaurant, which he plans to open in the coming weeks.
“We’re shooting for the month of December,” said Alex Baxevanis, also the owner of the spice company Chef Squared. “Some of these recipes are 300 to 400 years old. They come from my mother, my grandmother, my great-grandmother and my great-great-grandmother. They have been passed down in the family since generations.”
There was a time in his career when he abandoned Greek dishes and turned to traditional seafood dishes. While working at a restaurant in Asheville, he met his mentor and friend, chef Yiannis Stanitsas. It was Stanitsas who helped rekindle his spark for his cultural background, especially with food.
Ashleigh Baxevanis said she too was mentored by Chef Yiannis in traditional Greek baking.
Alex Baxevanis said that, like the food truck, the restaurant will offer Greek classics, mousakka (made with thick layers of eggplant, beef in tomato sauce and topped with béchamel sauce), pasticho (a dish similar asagna style with lots of béchamel sauce), lamb chops. , roast leg of lamb, grilled whole fish (with head), and spanakopita (a Greek pie made with crispy layers of phyllo pastry and a topping of spinach and feta).
As for Ashleigh Baxevanis’ pastries, these will include baklava, galaktoboureko, portokalopita and traditional Greek cookies (kourebedes, koulouraikia), she said.
Lots of experience
Alex Baxevanis earned a degree in culinary arts from Johnson and Wales in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2000. After school, he went to work with his parents at another Fisherman’s Quarters they owned in Asheville.
Throughout his life, Alex Baxevanis helped open and also owned numerous restaurants in the United States and abroad, he said.
“This will be the 10th restaurant I’ve owned and the 29th restaurant I’ve opened. So I’ve opened 29 in the United States and also two internationally,” he said.
Ashleigh Baxevanis also has a pastry degree that she earned from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College in 2015. She will work the front of the restaurant and also offer her pastries, Alex Baxevanis said.
“I got into the food industry after high school, working for a few large chains. I chose pastry school around 2013,” she says. “I have worked in baking at many locations in Asheville and Hendersonville. I love making traditional desserts, but I also thrive in front of the house with people.”
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Future plans
Although they will soon have their own restaurant, Alex and Ashleigh Baxevanis plan to keep their food truck going.
“For now, we will keep the food truck for special events,” Ashleigh Baxevanis said. “We plan to close it for the winter months and, depending on staffing, we plan to reopen it for the spring and summer months of next year.”
The two suites they have at the Asheville Highway shopping center are a total of 2,800 square feet. They worked on it daily, supplied it and carried out all the construction themselves, with the help of George Baxevanis.
“It is extremely exciting that we are moving into a permanent location. We are humbled by the response we have received to both the food truck and the announcement of the permanent location,” said Ashleigh Baxevanis.
“We didn’t expect such a love for our food and wanting a traditional Greek restaurant. We’re also looking forward to being able to feature more food items than just the simple sandwiches we’re known for.”
For more information, visit Feta Flav’s Facebook page, facebook.com/fetaflavfoodtruck.
Dean Hensley is the editor of the Hendersonville Times-News. Send tips, questions and comments to him at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this type of local journalism by subscribing to the Hendersonville Times-News.
