Queen of the Kitsch-en
Fashion designer Stavroula Adameitis and her sculptor husband Angus channel all things colourful, kitsch and vintage cool to create a dinner party that reflects their retro aesthetic – and love of pineapple.
When the hosts of a lunchtime gathering are a fashion designer/artist and her sculptor husband, you know you are in for a colourful, eclectic, artistic experience.
Stavroula Adameitis is the woman behind the fabulously loud fashion label Frida Las Vegas, which she describes as “wearable pop art with a distinctly antipodean flavour”.
Stav’s custom-designed pieces include kaftans, knitwear, t-shirts, jewellery, accessories and artworks, all bursting with colour and most feature Australian iconography such as Twisties, Farmers Union Iced Coffee, gold Logies and “bin chickens”. The graphics on one of her designs is based entirely on the Adelaide Festival Centre circa 1970s.
They are bold, individual and quirky pieces that reflect Stav’s personality and her love of all things ’70s and ’80s kitsch.
The name Frida Las Vegas is an amalgamation of her two aesthetic inspirations: firstly, the “explosive femininity” of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and secondly, Stav’s love of all things “trashy, tacky and glam” associated with Las Vegas.
“I grew up at the tail end of the ’80s and the beginning of the ’90s and as a little kid, you’re absorbing all these colours, these graphics, these signs, these symbols, and I thought that that was normal, it seemed entirely normal to go to school and see other kids wearing multi-coloured happy pants,” Stav says.
Colourful, fresh ingredients for the lunch feast. Opposite page Stavroula and Angus on their deck which overlooks Black Hill Conservation Park.
“Progressively, as the years have gone by, and as aesthetics and design sensibilities in general have become more conservative, I now realise that that moment was actually quite unique, that it really was reflective of the mood at the time, this exuberance, optimism and joyfulness.
“I grew up watching Video Hits and seeing things such as the B52s singing Love Shack. I wanted to be those guys. They looked fantastic and they were expressing themselves so visually.
“I find that Australia has such a rich ‘other’ landscape to our natural landscape, our pop cultural psycho landscape of things such as Kerri-Anne Kennerley, the Logies and, you know, Chiko Rolls.”
Stav studied an arts/media degree with the plan to go into fashion journalism, but ended up working in fashion styling. She then moved to Sydney to work for an animation company, before giving up the day job in 2016 to leap full-time into fashion design and art. The rest is history.
For today’s lunch, the designer is wearing one of her colourful kaftans as she and husband Angus rush around the kitchen, putting the finishing touches to the prawn cocktail entree.
The lunch menu, much like her designs, is an ode to retro culture, with healthy dollops of glamour, humour and vintage cool. Stav’s gourmet inspiration has come from her many vintage cookbooks sourced from second hand shops, including the classic Golden Circle Tropical Recipe Book.
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“I love kitsch cookbooks from the ’70s and ’80s and this one is my favourite,” says Stav as she shows off the pineapple cover. “All the recipes are adorned with pineapple.”
Guests begin to arrive and head straight for Stav and Angus’s expansive back deck, which overlooks the spectacular Black Hill Conservation Park. A geometric mural covers an enormous wall on one side of the deck and was painted by the creative couple.
The event is a family affair with Stav’s parents Jim and Maritsa Mountzouris helping out with food preparations, arriving early with a huge pineapple maple glazed ham.
Other guests include Stav’s aunty and uncle, George and Helen Vosvotekas, and her cousins Teri and Benoit Hopkins. All guests have followed the fashion brief set out by Stav – plenty of colour!
That is, of course, except her best friend, Adelaide singer Carla Lippis. Carla, known for her avant-garde performances and rock chick persona, arrives late and dressed head to toe in black, as does her husband-musician Geoff Crowther.
Carla is making a guest appearance at the lunch, enroute to her performance at the Adelaide Fringe as one of the stars of the hit show, 27 Club.
“Carla’s allowed to wear all black,” Stav laughs. “That’s Carla.”
Carla and Stav actually met through food. The singer used to own The Elephant Walk, an iconic cafe on North Adelaide’s Melbourne Street and Stav walked in one day looking for waitress work. The two have been besties ever since.
The Elephant Walk, a dessert bar, was an Adelaide institution for decades before it shut down. Today, in honour of The Elephant Walk, Stav and Carla will recreate one of the cafe’s most popular desserts – the strawberry waffles.
Stav’s early food memories were shaped by her Greek parents and grandparents. The family lived next door to Jim’s parents and Stav and her brother Nicholas spent a lot of time with their “Yiayia” and “Papou”.
The 1970s-inspired menu included rock lobster thermidore, pineapple maple glazed ham and coronation chicken trifle salad.
“It was the My Big Fat Greek Wedding stereotype, it definitely rings true in Australia,” Stav says. “My grandparents, on both sides, would pick my brother and I up from school every day, because my mum and dad worked full-time, and a typical after-school snack was hand-crumbed chicken nuggets, hand-cut chips, a fried egg and tomato sauce, because that was my grandparents’ idea of food that Australian kids loved.
“But generally, my grandparents were very focused on simple, fresh ingredients. They would never buy anything in a packet, and they always shopped at the Adelaide Central Market. Food was always a big part of our lives and my Yiayia would say, ‘you too skinny’, and I’d end up rolling out of the house. But food is love in Greek culture. The link between food and affection for Greeks is not Freudian, it’s outwardly present.”
Today, as guests enjoy their pre-lunch bubbles and take in the treetop views, Stav’s mother Maritsa and Uncle George talk about the food history of their family, starting with their mother, Angela, who is now 93, lives independently and is still cooking.
“She used to work at Swains Seafood Restaurant which was a silver service restaurant on Glen Osmond Road,” Maritsa says.
“She was a self-taught cook, she learnt to cook seafood at Swains because there was no seafood in her village in Greece.”
Maritsa herself, a retired school teacher, worked for a time in the kitchen at the iconic Cork & Cleaver restaurant in Glenunga, and was known for her mouthwatering meatballs.
“Cooking is a big part of our family history,” Maritsa says.
The rich layers of love and food culture are on show here as guests take their seats at the table, which boasts a bright pink and white tablecloth designed by Stav especially for today’s lunch. The tableware has been thoughtfully curated in yet another arty mishmash of colour and texture, from high-end to more affordable – there’s a serving plate by Hermès, cutlery by Laguiole, napkins by one of Stav’s designer icons Ken Done x Kip & Co, Champagne coupes by Villeroy and Boch and wine glasses from Kmart.
Angus and Stavroula serving their guests.
As guests tuck into the main meal of rock lobster thermidore, coronation chicken trifle salad and a glazed ham – with pineapple, of course – there is boisterous talk around the table, including memories of Greek meals when Stav was growing up. One of her favourite dishes was her grandparents’ “kotopoulo”, Greek chicken casserole slow cooked in a tomato, cinnamon and cumin sauce. Another of her favourite go-to Greek dishes is avgolemono, which is Greek chicken soup with egg and lemon.
“Our family tradition is simple peasant Greek food,” Stav says. “There’s this big misconception with Greek food that it’s all souvlaki and chips. That’s drunk food. Real Greek food is about fresh ingredients, flavour and slow cooking.”
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When she was about 20 years of age, Stav suffered a rare disorder called achalasia, which stops the oesophagus working properly. She needed an operation and had to learn how to swallow again.
“It actually has a lot to do with my relationship with food,” she says. “I told myself I would never take the act of putting food in my mouth for granted again.
“Eating is a joyous, wondrous thing.”
Stav and Angus work well as a team, clearing dishes, keeping glasses full and guests happy as they mingle on the deck on this perfect, sunny afternoon.
The couple met in Sydney, where Stav spent 14 years working and Angus grew up. They moved back to Adelaide in 2023 to be closer to Stav’s family and escape the prices and pace of Sydney life. Since then, Stav has thrived in Adelaide’s artistic and cultural scene, setting up her Frida Las Vegas studio/shopfront in Adelaide Arcade, and working on a variety of collaborations and projects, including with the History Trust of South Australia, while Angus has taken a position with an art installation and logistics company.
The ladies sitting in the lounge room are, from left, Stavroula’s cousin Teri Hopkins, mum Maritsa Mountzouris, Stavroula, her aunty Helen Vosvotekas and best friend Carla Lippis. The mirrored wall art behind was created by Stavroula.
Following her dream to become a practicing artist and designer is something Stav’s parents have always supported, and something that resonates, in particular, with her father Jim.
The 69-year-old used to be in a successful Adelaide band in the 1970s and ’80s called Vertical Hold, which had a record deal and a string of hits including My Imagination and This Must Be Love. They were on the cusp of big things, but decided to take the safer path of day jobs, forgoing the bright lights and lure of fame. Jim ended up working as an architect for the SA government.
“They had a number-one hit in Adelaide in 1981 and they were on Countdown and their video was directed by Scott Hicks,” Stav says.
“What Dad didn’t do was move interstate and take things to the next level. The record label was like, ‘we’ve got these two bands we want to sink our marketing budget into, Vertical Hold and a band called INXS. I always joke to Dad that I could have been Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lilly,” says Stav, referring to the daughter of the late INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence.
“But Dad lived the rock star dream for a brief period, which was quite unusual coming from a conservative Greek upbringing, so I really admire him for that.
“When I was offered a job in Sydney years ago Dad said, ‘Don’t even think about it. Just go’. Both he and Mum have always been supportive of me following my dreams.”
It seems apt, then, that today Jim has taken charge of the music and is playing tunes from a playlist he’s made called “Southern Pop Express”.
As the afternoon happily rolls on and the Veuve Clicquot Rosé continues to flow, Carla and Stav relive old times in the kitchen, laughing and chatting as they together create the strawberry waffle dessert.
“I remember when I used to make this at the cafe and Carla would say, ‘don’t scrimp out on the cream, pile it high with strawberries’,” Stav says, as she whips the cream in a vintage Mixmaster that used to belong to Angus’s grandmother.
The strawberry waffle dessert was a throwback to the days when Stavroula worked at The Elephant Walk cafe.
“The whole idea being that you eat with your eyes. The Elephant Walk was such a beloved place in people’s memories so that’s why I’m doing it here today. Carla lived in London to pursue music for a long time, and I was in Sydney, so it’s just great to be back in Adelaide together and around family and friends.”
Having been away from home for so long, Stav now savours the quality time she gets to spend with her loved ones, and she and Angus love to entertain in their unique home, which also boasts an outdoor bath that overlooks the expansive view.
“Coming home at Christmas and Easter and fitting in those gatherings in one afternoon was never enough,” Stav says. “I missed out on cousins growing up and other family events.
“Now, I love visiting my grandmother Angela, who gets up with her Zimmer frame and goes to cook for me and says, ‘are you hungry? You too skinny’. I feel really blessed to be almost 40 years of age and still have my grandmother around. I have started filming her cooking and capturing her recipes.”
Stav says her home, full of the couple’s collected antiques, artworks, retro furniture, curios and assorted splashes of colour and creativity, is her “sanctuary”.
“My favourite part of the day is having a cuppa in the morning, looking out over the hill, and coming home and doing the same thing at dusk,” she says. “We love the lifestyle here, we shop at Newton with all the food practitioners and businesses that the Italian migrants brought here, like Panini Brothers, which is the best place to get bread.
There was plenty of colour and cheer on the day with the guests, back row from left, Carla Lippis, her husband Geoff Crowther, Stavroula’s parents Jim and Maritsa Mountzouris, cousins Teri and Benoit Hopkins, and aunty and uncle Helen and George Vosvotekas.
“We love sharing our home, being open and generous; having fun with guests is something that we really value. I think people know when they come to our house that they’re in for a nice time. It’s definitely not going to be a cookie-cutter experience.
“More broadly, I also think there’s more of an energy here in Adelaide than when I left. There’s an excellent talent pool, especially creative talent that has evolved in the sort of ‘petri dish’ of South Australia. It’s exciting to be a part of that.”
This article first appeared in the May 2025 issue of SALIFE magazine.
