West Mt. Airy’s popular Malelani Cafe will celebrate its 10th anniversary, Saturday, Sept. 14, in what promises to be a rollicking street fair from noon to 10 p.m., when organizers hope to close off the cafe’s block of Germantown Avenue for a day of family fun.
Tired Hands Brewing Company, located next door, will be there with a beer garden, as will food trucks, 24 food and beverage vendors, and music from a lineup of local bands: Return to Crab, Say it with Your Chest and Sweet Stanzas. Poetry and comedy will be performed by Mt. Airy Laughs during a day that will be filled with Action Karate, kids' games, gift baskets, prizes, giveaways and visits from State Sen. Art Haywood and State Rep. Chris Rabb.
“I promise to be here 10 more years, and we are going to do this event every year from now on,” said Malelani Cafe owner George Drakopoulos, who is basically a big bundle of energy with an infectious laugh. His BYOB eatery serves fresh, healthy, reasonably priced Mediterranean and American cuisine, coffee and espresso and high-end teas in a casual environment of smiles from staff members. “Malelani” is a South African word that means “the place of palms.”
Since Drakopoulos, 43, a graduate of Stockton University in South Jersey with a degree in business and hospitality, is of Greek descent, why the South African restaurant name? It’s because he was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and immigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1996. His mother, Cecilia, is a nurse, and his father, Dimitri, was a bookie, taking bets on horses in South Africa where betting is legal and bookies are licensed. But, Drakopoulos admits, his dad “was an illegal bookie because he did not want to pay for the license. He did have some trouble with the law, but the cops there have a lot bigger issues to deal with.”
Summertime is usually slow for most Philadelphia restaurants because so many city residents are on vacation, but Drakopoulos insists that business has actually been very good this year, much better than last summer. “Maybe it is because vacations have gotten so expensive,” he said. “We have had a lot of new customers who have moved to Northwest Philly from New York, Washington, D.C., and Center City. In fact, business in Center City is hurting now, but Mt. Airy is hot. Germantown is coming along also.”
Drakopoulos's parents brought him and his sister, Maxi, to the U.S. because “although there is crime here in Philly, it is nothing like Johannesburg. It is like the Wild West there; crime is just terrible,” he said. “We were broken into twice here last year, but it is still safer than South Africa. There they take your car and shoot you. Here they just take your car.”
Because Drakopoulos’s father couldn’t continue his occupation in this country at a time when being a bookie was illegal, he started working for Drakopoulos’ godfather, who owned a restaurant on the boardwalk in Atlantic City. His father eventually opened his own restaurant, where George Drakopoulos got a lot of practical business experience at a young age.
The Mt. Airy restaurateur is also committed to promoting artists and musicians. Malelani features ongoing exhibits by local artists, an open mic night for area musicians, poets and other performers, every Thursday, beginning at 7 p.m., as well as comedy nights on the last Friday of each month, from 9 to 11 p.m.. Jazz performances are every second and fourth Monday, and poetry gets star billing on each second and fourth Friday, 7 to 9 p.m. There is an outdoor area that seats 20 in addition to the 35 seats indoors.
“I am lucky,” Drakopoulos said, “I have met so many great artists and performers here. Rochelle Aquila is the artist whose work is currently on display through the end of September.
“I am also glad that there are so many new businesses in lower Mt. Airy, like Tired Hands, Adelie Coffee House, Zsa's Ice Cream, Grocery Outlet, Frosted Fox Bakery and Young American Cider, among others,” Drakopoulos said. “There is much more activity now. I was on the planning committee for Mt. Airy Day, and we had 200 vendors. More than 3,000 people came out. It was a really good experience for event planning.”
Malelani Cafe at 6734 Germantown Ave. For more information, call 267-766-2396 or visit malelani.cafe. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.
