Fall Greek Food To-Go event may become new tradition for Oakmont church
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An Oakmont church already known for its annual food festival might have started a new tradition this year.
The Dormition of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Church hosted a Greek Food To-Go event Oct. 24 and 25 in order to help recoup some of the financial losses incurred due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Its iconic June festival with traditional Greek dances and other performances was changed into a drive-thru, food-only event as organizers addressed health concerns.
Co-chair Andy Gavrilos said they wanted to try a shortened version of that with an extended menu in October, and the community rallied in support.
“It was definitely a boost,” Gavrilos said. “With the two drive-thru events we did, and we’re going to do two half-pan sales. We’ll come very close to generating what our festival typically does. We can use that for some of the capital improvements that we want to do.”
Gavrilos declined to discuss specific fundraising numbers. He said they will evaluate how things went and see what happens next year.
Oakmont resident Jean Houser, who lives across from the church along Washington Avenue, said having a fall food festival was a great idea. She picked up some gyros, lamb and chicken at both drive-thru events.
“They had to change things because of covid,” Houser said. “I understand that, but it’s still nice that they still did it. This has to take a lot of work, a lot of organization. They have made it so it is like a well-oiled machine. They do a fantastic job. It’s awesome. … When they have the normal festival, I just walk across and enjoy the festivities and go home.”
The October event had some competition. The Pitt Panthers played Notre Dame at Heinz Field on the Saturday of the event and the Steelers took on the Tennessee Titans that Sunday.
Business was slow during game time, but things picked up afterward. Volunteers did not have to miss out on much. There was a TV under the tent where folks were filling out orders.
“We’ve been getting tons of support from Oakmont and the surrounding communities,” said volunteer Chris Ioannou. “Friend and families and parishioners coming out to support us means a lot. Everyone chips in at different areas. Right now I’ve been keeping the food supply and making sure people have enough food to get to the cars.”
His wife, Kristin Ioannou, was helping in the main hall with volunteer Kellie Tsouris to package the pastitso and spanakopita, two very popular items.
Oakmont resident Joel Graham picked up some food after the Steelers’ win.
“The atmosphere is probably what I miss the most, but the food makes up for missing the atmosphere,” Graham said about the festivals going drive-thru. “They’re super efficient. The much shorter lines for gyros and getting the food much faster is better. I think it would do really well (in the fall). I think one of the things that keeps a lot of people away in the summer is the heat.”
Volunteers wore masks and followed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Order takers used hand-held devices to process requests and credit and debit card transactions to help people move through the line. Cash was not accepted.
The menu featured classic gyros; chicken Alexis with rice pilaf; pork souvlaki; prepackaged pastries; lamb shanks; and pastitso, pasta and ground beef topped with béchamel sauce. There were no honey balls.
Longtime volunteer Mike Contes said this year has provided its set of festival problems as well as opportunities for the church and its parishioners, and they have risen to the challenge.
“We’re changing all the time,” Contes said. “Andy and everybody’s always thinking of new ideas to come up with and new menu items that we can add. We’ve really made an effort to please everybody, and I think it does. I think some people come for the authentic Greek food and some people come for simple things.
“We’ve managed to make it customer friendly and tried to make it as painless as possible to serve as many people as we can for a reasonable amount of money.”
The church is selling frozen half-pans of spanakopita, pastitso and moussaka. Each serves between 12 to 16 people. Pickup is on Nov. 19, 21 and 22. More information is available at dormitionpgh.org/foodtogo.