Dimitrios Athanasiou

Dimitrios Athanasiou and his family have cooked their way into the hearts of Lüdinghausen residents with their Greek delicacies

Always in a good mood, always friendly, a warm host - that's how the people of Lüdinghausen know Dimitrios (Dimi) Athanasiou from the Hellas Artemis restaurant. As we take a photo for this article outside the front door, people honk and wave: almost everyone here knows Dimi.

It's been over 20 years since the 39-year-old came to Lüdinghausen with his family. "My older brother, who lived in Datteln at the time, had heard that there was a restaurant in Lüdinghausen that we could take over. That's how we ended up here. And we immediately felt at home," he recalls. "The people here accepted us straight away."

The Greek restaurant was a family project from the start, run by his mother, father, brother Sotiris and himself. They are all restaurateurs with heart and soul, and dad Joannis is still in the kitchen every day. And so dad, brother and Dimi are sitting together when I meet them in the restaurant on the day of rest. Billing, orders - even when Hellas is closed, they have their hands full.

"The guests know what they're getting here"

The secret of their success? "The quality of our food is always the same. Guests know exactly what they're getting here. And they appreciate that." Baked feta cheese, bifteki special, Hellas platter or Dimitrios plate: the menu has always been the same, apart from a few small things. "We have regular customers who don't need a menu. They've been eating the same thing for 20 years," says Dimi with a smile. "And that's nice. It shows that they feel at home with us." The mixed grill plates are particularly popular with guests.

Until Corona arrived at the beginning of 2020, "Hellas" was open seven days a week. Due to the lack of staff caused by the coronavirus, the family then decided to have a day off on Mondays. "And we've kept it that way. One day off a week - that's important," says the 39-year-old, who is married and has a two-and-a-half-year-old son. "I was able to spend a lot of time with him during the coronavirus break. And I want to keep doing that."

Klutensee Festival

Dimitrios Athanasiou is not only a restaurateur, but also an event organizer. Together with DJ Jan Prohaszka, he has been organizing the Before Christmas party at Hellas on 23 December for many years. "We clear out the whole restaurant. And then it's party time," says Dimi. "As we really enjoy it, we thought about it at some point: We could get something else going after all." Lake Klutensee seemed to be the right place, and the city agreed. And so they celebrated the first beach party here in 2015. The beach party became the Klutensee Festival and in 2018 the Schlager Open Air was added.

"The parties are growing more and more," says Dimi happily. This year, 800 Schlager fans came to the Schlager Open Air and almost 2,000 house and techno fans came to the Klutensee Festival, where well-known DJs from all over Europe play. "Many Lüdinghausen residents meet here. But there are now also many guests from outside the city."

"The people here are just nice"

Why does he like living in Lüdinghausen so much? "Because the people here are simply very nice. Because the town has a good size and structure, a lot is happening here, but the town is still growing slowly. That provides security. Because life here is quiet and not so fast. Because you feel like you're in good hands here as a family." Nadine Wenge