A GREEK restaurant in Winchester city centre is due to re-open this October after a seven-month hiatus.

Yiayias Kitchen, on St George Street, served Greek fare with a Cypriot twist, a nod to owner Paul Pyrgoudes's heritage, until it closed abruptly in March.

Paul told the Chronicle he is relishing the chance to start doing business again in Winchester and get involved with the community.

He said: "We absolutely love Winchester and we want to be there. We can't wait to share with you guys in Winchester."

READ MORE: Yiayias Kitchen Winchester to return to city centre after absence

Yiayias has been closed since March (Image: NQ)

Speaking of the restaurant's prolonged closure, Paul did not want to go into too much detail, but he did allude to issues and the general "restructuring" of the Winchester branch.

This included finding the right staff for the business – the new chef is Paul's cousin who has coming to Winchester directly from Cyprus, a difficult feat in these post-Brexit times.

Paul said: "We've had to go and get visas because there's just no talent here for what we do. We had to get the right people in place.

"We want to thank everyone in Winchester for helping us out, especially [Winchester City] Council."

This is not the first closure the Winchester branch of Yiayias has suffered.

After opening in December 2022, taking over from Tom's Deli, the restaurant closed last summer as it underwent "restructuring". It eventually opened again in December 2023.

Now Paul hopes he can make Yiayias Winchester as successful as his other enterprises.

SEE ALSO: Yiayias Kitchen Winchester finally reopens after sudden closure

Paul, who in his own words is "half-Cypriot, half-Irish and grew up in East London", opened his first restaurant in St Albans before embarking on a new adventure in the form of The Fox in Farnham and finally, Yiayias, which is Cypriot for "grandmother".

In fact, it was Paul's grandmother who inspired him to open the restaurant – she taught him to cook when he used to visit her in the mountains during summer holidays as a child.

As part of getting involved in the local community, Paul wants to reach out to any charities in the area that might be interested in collaborating with the restaurant, and would like to encourage them to reach out to him at paul@yiayias.co.uk.