Sam Kazzaz has one of these minds that flit from one thing to another, like a bee hunting for pollen, restlessness also being such a close companion I might have been better served locking him in a cupboard ( minus mobile phone) to then shout questions through the keyhole. We sit outside his Limanaki restaurant and its easy to appreciate the immediate attraction the venue has for customers, the building nestles nicely on a corner location and comfortable wooden tables and chairs spill onto the small path leading down to Pissouri beach. It’s an idyllic and highly popular venue for those lucky diners on the receiving end of his memorable hosting and culinary skills.

His mobile rings constantly with suppliers checking orders, regular diners making a special food request, a TV producer calling from France interested in talking about Mediterranean fusion food, in the space of 12 minutes he had talked to half a dozen people, responding either in fluent, Greek, English and French. I ask if the obvious stress levels encountered on a daily basis ever made him want to rip of the chef’s jacket, pack it all in, buy a boat and go fishing.

‘It’s a given that the restaurant business is brutal, you work till you sometimes drop, as both the chef and owner you have to worry about every detail of the business. Limanaki is very personal it’s 100% me, and that’s the problem, I concern myself with bookings, deliveries, about the welfare of my staff, gross profit, linen, larder management, the list is endless which means every day has to be seen as a full on controlled commitment.

Then, come lunch and  evening service, everything has to be perfect, we never ever forget we are in the business of feeding people, but customers also need to really like a place, to keep coming here, and always be happy and comfortable in every way.

Its really all about love, respect and food, so when you make people happy, when you see them relishing the food you have created, believe me, there are few greater feelings of satisfaction, fishing would only give me a buzz if I was guaranteed a good ‘catch’ so I could cook it for my customers.’

In a time when folk in Cyprus thought Focaccia was a type of deadly disease, Sam, singlehandedly was instrumental in expanding our notions of restaurant cuisine with his very own delicious yet deceptively simple take on fusion cookery. But, with the old adage ringing truer than ever in these economic climes that ‘A man might more easily pass a camel through the eye of a needle than make money out of a provincial restaurant’, how I ask has he managed to thrive while others have had to put up the ‘closed’ sign.

‘My passion is food, it’s a subject that dominates my life, but in opening Limanaki I knew from the outset that I had to take ‘the long view’. This meant a slow but steady build up of regular quality clients, with me moving at a gentle pace with new and relatively innovative dishes. I have a good business head which makes it easier to see all the possible pitfalls, it’s also true that if you want to run a successful restaurant you have to be there, ensuring its always being run correctly.

My passion is indeed being satisfied but, I am not going to become a millionaire with one small restaurant as these days you have to accept a very low margin of profit. Neither do I follow trends, nor have aspirations to become for example -a franchise. No, this as I said before is deeply personal I don’t desire nor will I buy into an impersonal type of food business. What’s the point if you truly love what you do, and have the right level of passion and commitment to keep doing it? Limanaki may well be a hugely demanding mistress, but I love her and thankfully so do all my customers.’ 

Passion in Pissouri

An Article on Sam Kazzaz,

by Nan Mackenzie, Journalist and Restaurant critic.