November 6, 2003
Portland Press Hearld,
Your Neighbors-South - page 2G

My Business: Providing food that warms the heart

How did the business start?

Tony didn't like retirement, having run restaurants in Maine and in Boston, and felt that Cape Elizabeth needed a family restaurant. He and his daughter, Lisa, established the restaurant 17 years ago after buying a Korean restaurant that had gone out of business.

After a fire destroyed everything but the back deck in 2001, it took them about "15 seconds" to decide to rebuild, Tony says, adding that the day after the fire, people kept bringing in old hats and old pictures to help redecorate the restaurant with its trademark decor.

The Good Table reopened for business in March 2002, less than a year after the fire.

What are the advantages to doing business in your area?

Being a big part of the community. We're a meeting ground for neighbors and returning visitors each year who have become friends! Being of Greek heritage, we find satisfying people's appetites to be truly fun and rewarding.

How do you plan to grow your business?

By offering new choices and continuing to serve honest food at honest prices, our mission. We also have the friendliest staff in town!

What is the most fun aspect of your business?

The people and the comment cards. We also like watching children who frequent The Good Table with their families grow into young adults; many come to work for us! In one situation, a girl started out in the kitchen when she was 14. She continued through college to work with us on her school vacations, and now, even as she's a teacher and is in her 20s, she comes back to waitress for us. We have a lot of loyalty, and in this business, when someone stays with you for more than five years, they must be good people; we like them and they like us!

Is there anything unique or significantly different about your business?

Everything at The Good Table is created here, from Lisa and John's imaginative dishes and old family recipes. After a fire gutted the restaurant and we reopened, people said, "It's like coming back home!" What could be more wonderful?

How would you describe the business climate here?

Friendly. Our family is committed to the customers' satisfaction and fun.

What are the challenges/advantages to running a small business or family business?

In a family business there is bound to be a power struggle in the beginning, yet when there is love mixed with like minds who share a vision and a passion for the business, balance happens and the rewards far outweigh the challenges.