Two sisters, born in the Philippines and then raised in Greece, have opened Springhouse Restaurant in 100 Mile House offering authentic cuisine from both countries.
The first to arrive in British Columbia was Esperanza (May) Tobin, who jumped at the chance to immigrate to Canada back in her mid-teens and worked here as a nanny until recently, while her sister, Roza Ambellana, stayed in Greece working as a chef for other restaurants there until 2006.
While May explains she quickly gained permission to move from Tumbler Ridge to Vancouver, and worked there until after Roza arrived, both sisters had married and raised families by then and she was looking for a change from childcare.
Her dream of moving to the South Cariboo was born on her way to visit Roza in Williams Lake (working as a department manager at Walmart), when she fell in love with the community.
This meshed extremely well with Roza’s dream of operating her own restaurant here, after also catering on her own in Greece and training under others “for years and years,” 100 Mile House seemed ideal, with no Greek or Philipino cuisine specialized there.
Together with some support from their husbands, they began the process of licensing and renovation, and were thrilled to open on April 27. May’s husband, Keith Tobin, is Springhouse’s general manager, after giving up years of working in oil-and-gas and Roza’s husband, George Jerritt, is their “kitchen helper” in his post-retirement as a Vancouver businessman.
Business is steady as they go – and the sisters like it that way, as they catch up with when and what locals like to eat, and how best to approach serving them authentic foods with fresh ingredients while keeping wait times as short as possible.
“The people here are very friendly,” says Roza. “I like my farm in Williams Lake but I like it here, too.”
The Filipino food is of course also authentic and tasty but, so far, their Greek food is bringing some residents in from an hour away, she explains.
“Some are coming here once a week for our roast lamb, and they love our calamari, and the pork and chicken souvlaki. And, the Greek salad is ‘flying’.”
“The tzatziki is the most precious,” adds May. “Everybody loves it. It’s freshly made every morning, everything is freshly made …. and we get our produce every morning.”
All the vegetables – including two boxes of tomatoes and cucumbers alone – are hand-purchased fresh at 8 a.m. every day in 100 Mile House, she says, adding their meat and seafood is delivered from a carefully chosen, large scale quality supplier.
May notes it’s “not easy” working such long days while missing their grown children, but they know the latter will improve once their boys and girls graduate university in Vancouver and can visit more often.
With their sparkling new renovations (in the front of the Greyhound Bus Depot on Highway 97), a new (pole) sign coming, and its online menu’s and reviews on Facebook (5-star, so far), the Springhouse family team is working hard to establish their new restaurant, with a website and more professional food critic reviews in their sights soon.
Take-out is also available, if you order ahead and pick it up (no delivery), at 250-395-3175.
Roza and May, along with George, Keith, and their friendly servers welcome the community to turn out to try for yourself their tasty authentic Greek and Philippine cuisine and other menu items (be sure to check out the many specials).