Rockin’ it, rinkside Fort Rouge clientele hurrying hard for Hellenic-tinged fare after A and V Drive-In relocation By: David Sanderson Posted: 6:00 AM CST Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/01/2024 (967 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Vicky Cavadas was having her cards read in 2019 when the dialogue turned to work.

Cavadas, who, along with her husband Angelo, had been running the A and V Drive-In on Chevrier Boulevard since 2004, was told they would one day receive an offer to relocate that would cause the two of them to be busier than they could have imagined.

Vicky took the prognostication with a grain of salt. After all, she and Angelo already had a loyal stable of regulars that showed up on a near-daily basis for their breakfast or lunch fix, plus they had zero desire to start over from scratch at some place new.

Then along came the various closures associated with COVID-19, immediately followed by two years of road construction that severely limited access to their premises. The combination of the two had such a negative impact on their bottom line that neither could decide if they should renew their lease when it came due in September 2023, or call it a day altogether.

Last winter, they were out shopping when they ran into a person who had been a customer of theirs for years. After exchanging pleasantries, the fellow mentioned he belonged to the Fort Rouge Curling Club, and that the club was actively searching for an experienced party to take over its in-house restaurant.

But since they owned their drive-in, they probably weren’t interested, he added almost apologetically.

That’s when the couple explained they’d always rented the space, and would definitely pop by the club to have a look.

“To make a long story short, we came down, fell in love with the place and said if they were interested in us, we were interested in them, ” Vicky says, seated next to Angelo inside the 65-year-old building, where, as foretold, things have been going gangbusters, since their arrival there at the end of September.

Vicky laughs, saying she has yet to let her medium know just how spot-on her prediction was.

“She actually moved to Ontario but the next time I see her, I’ll 100 per cent treat her to lunch.”

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Those unfamiliar with the A and V Drive-In may be interested to learn the homespun locale, which built its reputation on oversized omelettes, chicken souvlaki and fatboy burgers, traces its roots to Greece, where Angelo’s parents emigrated from in the mid-1950s.

In the ensuing years, Stamatios (Tom) and Koula Cavadas owned and operated a series of dining spots in Winnipeg, including the Caravan and the Bamboo Inn. Angelo was 15 years old in 1977 when his mom and dad established the Acropolis at 172 Sherbrook St.

Being Greek meant he had to work, he says with a wink, so that was where he cut his own culinary teeth, by helping to prepare dishes such as the Ulysses boat, described in a glowing 1979 Free Press review as a “pita stuffed with hot slices of savoury meat.”

Angelo was cooking for his cousins at former Osborne Village icon Papa George’s in 1992 when he met Vicky, whose parents also moved to Canada from Greece, at a Portage Avenue take-out joint called Mr. Chips. The couple, who tied the knot in 1996, were working together at a restaurant in the Maples in 2004 when Angelo received a call from a pal, letting him know that Peter and Tony Louizos, owners of the P & T Truck Stop at 1200 Chevrier Blvd., were planning to lease the 40-seat property.

Angelo and Vicky had been talking about a place of their own for a while by then, and they reached out to the brothers, who also operated the White Top Drive-In on Salter Street, to ask “how much?”

The rebranded A and V Drive-In, short for Angelo and Vicky, opened as a Monday-to-Friday, breakfast-and-lunch nook in September 2004. Word spread and before long the Cavadases were feeding their share of famous faces, including renowned hypnotist Vance Romane, fashion moguls Chip and Pepper Foster, and myriad Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Both huge hockey fans, Angelo and Vicky were over the moon two years ago when Winnipeg Jets forward Adam Lowry dropped by, after being tipped off about the drive-in by one of its many fans. As thrilled as they were to receive a game-used stick from the now-Jets captain, Vicky almost did a spit-take when Lowry got around to placing his order.

“All he wanted was a cheeseburger with ketchup, nothing else,” she says, pointing out a framed photo of Lowry on the wall above the cash register, next to a tin sign reading Fat Boy Boulevard.

“I was like ‘Adam, you have to have chili on that burger or you can’t tell people you’ve been to A and V.’” (When Lowry’s ex-teammate Dustin Byfuglien visited a few years earlier, all he requested was a patty melt. Angelo told him he had to be hungrier than that, at which point Byfuglien said, OK, bring him a bowl of tomato soup, as well.)

Angelo and Vicky started to clue their clientele in about the changeover at the beginning of last summer, stressing the new setup was less than five kilometres away, about a seven-minute drive.

Around the same time, a large placard went up outside the curling club, alerting members to the drive-in’s impending arrival. That led to an interesting final few weeks on Chevrier Boulevard, where, according to a recent Free Press story, a second White Top Drive-In is slated to open, later this year.

Besides workers from a nearby industrial park stopping by for their last Greek burger or plate of spaghetti at that address, the Cavadases also began welcoming Fort Rouge members who informed them they were on a reconnaissance mission of sorts, to sample their fare, ahead of the transition.

Since moving into their new digs at the end of September, Angelo and Vicky have served as many non-curlers as curlers. There is ample seating overlooking the club’s six curling sheets, and scores of people from the neighbourhood who originally intended to grab and go have ended up parking themselves at a table, to enjoy their meal with a side of double takeouts.

“We’ve also introduced appetizers like (chicken) wings and nachos, which we didn’t have at the old spot,” Angelo says, adding despite having little previous knowledge of the roaring game, he brushed up on his terminology, evidenced by dishes such as a button mushroom burger and sticks and stones, their take on fish and chips.

“As well, we’d always wanted to do pizza, but because we didn’t have room for a proper oven where we were, it was never an option. Here, there have already been days when we’ve done close to 60 pies, so obviously the demand was there.”

Angelo and Vicky, who currently employ four others including one of their nieces, agree the biggest adjustment they’ve had to deal with has been their schedule. On Chevrier, they were open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday to Friday, while now they’re both currently hurrying hard seven days a week, except for major holidays, from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m.

“Hopefully we’ll hire a few cooks soon, so we can get home in time to watch a Jets game live, once in a while,” Vicky says, playfully poking her husband, decked out in a Jets T-shirt and ball cap, in the ribs.

By the way, Vicky no longer needs tea leaves or crystal balls to tell her what lies ahead.

“Our current lease is for two years but we’ve already told the board we’re lifers and that as long as they love us, we’re not going anywhere.”

Here she smiles from ear to ear, recounting the response that comment elicited: “So far, what’s not to love?”

david.sanderson@freepress.mb.ca