The owner of Billy’s Table is opening a Greek taverna
Vasili’s Table is opening in West Beach in September and will include Greek-island style food using fresh produce from its garden.
Vasili translates to Bill in Greek.
Billy Petropoulos, the owner of Billy’s Table, actually used to go by Bill.
“My birth name was Vasili, my passports, my documents, all Vasili,” Billy says.
“It has been difficult over the years, because the English translation through school was Bill. I went with Bill my whole life and if you travel, and you’ve got Vasili and you’ve got Bill documents – God it’s so annoying.
“And then when I worked for Bills, the global [hospitality] company for Bill Granger [when I was 28, 29 years old], there were too many confusions between Bill and Bill. I remember everyone was getting us too mixed up in London.
“So then I went with Billy and then it’s been Billy for the last 15 years.”
Billy has travelled and worked in hospitality in places like China, Korea, Japan, Hawaii, before moving home to Adelaide in 2015 and opening Billy’s Table in Croydon in 2018.
This September, Billy will open Vasili’s Table in West Beach in the former Beachside Restaurant space, which he says is a “full circle” moment.
“Vasili’s Table has always been in the pipeline for many years… Vasili’s Table was always a restaurant that I wanted to do being Greek,” he says.
“I’ve purposely left Greek until I found the right place, and when this place came along, this was the calling. This was the spot that I understood and knew that this was it.”
Billy says the factors that drew him to this space were its size, because he wanted a space “big enough to have everything that [he] needed to put in there”, and its proximity to the ocean.
“I wanted to grow veggies on site. I wanted to have my own produce. I wanted to have space to do live music. I wanted to have space in the kitchen to produce enough for functions and weddings and bigger events,” Billy says.
“To find that kind of space that has a uniqueness to it, and that is, of course, close to the beach, because I’m a beach person. I love the ocean. I do morning walks and lots of swims.
“I’m from a Greek island, so everything always points me towards the beach.”
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When it comes to food, Billy is focusing on Greek island cuisine, compared to mainland Greek cuisine.
“Again, being close to the ocean, the salt will draw from the ocean. It’ll probably most likely go into the veggies, like Santorini, like the Greek islands have that saltiness to it,” Billy says.
“You might not find halloumi cheese, because that’s probably more in Cyprus. But I’m focusing more on products, like a lot of vegetables, a lot of seafood, and a lot more products like goat: things that are grown on the islands.
“We’ll be producing some of our own cheeses. We’ll be making our own sausages. We’ll be making our own filo pastries. We’ll be making our own sweets and cakes, our own breads, our pita breads, country loaves.
“Then produce like all the fruit and veg [will] be grown as much as we can to produce for the restaurant and just simply cooked on chargrills and focus on meats that are only sourced locally.”
Billy says he’ll still be including Greek staples like spanakopita, Moussaka, baklava, freshly grilled squid and octopus, and of course, yiros with charcoal meats like lamb and chicken.
Billy wants to “work with the building” and encapsulate the feeling of “being at your yiayia’s house”.
“It’s a gorgeous old mid-century building, very focused on the 60s and the 70s … I’ve stripped it right back and as you can see, it’s quite bare at the moment, and I’m filling it back up.
“It’s the true authenticity of the building – so that mid-century [vibe] – meeting that Greek taverna.
“I’m going with checkered blue and white tablecloths, the condiments on the tables, the mid-century 1970s tables I’m working with.
“I’ve got these beautiful mid-century chairs that match the building, and adding in furniture that you would find in my mum’s house and my grandparents’ house.
“That’s how Billy’s Table is – it makes you feel at home and makes you feel welcomed.”
Vasili’s Table is slated to open in September and is located at 5 West Beach Road, West Beach.
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