Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/461818
photography by Cesar rios (museum) "It's the best Greektown in the world." As ChiCAgo's helleniC Community prepAres to CelebrAte the greek independenCe dAy pArAde on mArCh 29, finAnCe guru And budding restAurAteur Alexi GiAnnouliAs shAres his pAssion for the neighborhood thAt shAped his youth. by j.p. anderson Alexi Giannoulias is known around town as a man of many facets—former Illinois state treasurer, current senior director at BNY Mellon Wealth Management, and most recently as a part- ner in Kanela Breakfast Club, whose fourth location is set to open in Streeterville this spring. What Giannoulias might be proudest of, though, is his background as a Greek American. "My Greek heritage is everything to me," says the 39-year-old. "Both my par- ents were Greek immigrants, and everything about the way we were raised was based around Greek traditions." And though he grew up in Edgewater (where he still attends Saint Andrew Greek Orthodox Church) and now lives in the Gold Coast with wife Jo, Giannoulias has a passionate connection to Chicago's Greektown neighbor- hood, which has been and continues to be the center of his social life. As his family and the rest of Chicago's Greek community celebrate that nation's Independence Day Parade on March 29, Giannoulias shared with Michigan Avenue just what the area surrounding South Halsted Street means to him and some of the local destinations that have inspired him most. "I have so many memories of Greektown. Greek families pride themselves on eating dinner as a family, and my mom cooked almost every night of the week for her husband and three boys. When we ate out it was never, 'What part of town are we going to go have din- ner?,' it was, 'Which restaurant in Greektown are we going to go to?' It was very important to my father to support Greek-owned businesses, and there were places where they could order dinner for us in Greek, where we became friends with the waiters, and we knew everyone at every restaurant. So in some sense, it was almost like eating at home because there was such a welcoming, familiar atmosphere everywhere we went. That was a part of childhood for my brothers and me, and not much has changed. When I go to Greek Islands or Santorini or have a cup of coffee at Artopolis or have a drink at 9 Muses—this is part of my community, and it's the best Greektown in the world. "When it comes to my favorite places, Greek Islands is a classic. Whether you're Greek or not, the tablecloths, the food, the f laming cheese, the care they take with their service—it's a great restaurant, but it's the opposite of stuffy. It's The National Hellenic Museum's "Greek Monsters" exhibition puts an irreverent spin on classic Greek iconography. continued on pAge 72 70 michiganavemag.com PEOPLE Native