Kiki Bistro, from the owners of Soul Gastrolounge, closed following New Year’s Eve service and will rebrand to Sister, an all-day European cafe opening later this month. Kiki served its first customers just ahead of the pandemic, with a glamorous gold, black, and white color scheme and a menu of high-end Greek and French-inspired dishes. When the pandemic hit, the restaurant remained closed for nearly eight months during and following the shutdown. 

“It was too new,” says Andy Kastanas, who owns the restaurant with his wife Lesa. “It was unsustainable to raise support during quarantine.”

As it reopened, owner the Kastanases changed the menu to be more comforting, emphasizing more traditional Greek cuisine, including family-style gyro platters. With Sister, Kastanas says he’s hoping to fill a void the transient city seems to be looking for. He recalls working at Kiki, where people would stop in and ask for directions to Soul. Surprised at the number of people who didn’t know where the decade-plus old restaurant was, he began to realize that many of their customers were just learning about their adopted home city. 

“All these people are newcomers, and they’re reading stuff or getting information online and they want to visit,” he says. “So I see what’s happening. I see the influx of people, and I’m just trying to give a product that I think they want.”

That includes an all-day concept, where people working from home can stop in and work for a bit, or families can enjoy pastries or lunch with their kids. Breakfast service will likely be fast casual, with traditional Greek pastries provided by Mocco Bistro on South Boulevard. 

Jay Pound will continue to oversee the menu as executive chef of Sister and Soul, while Kel Minton will manage the bar program. Some of Soul’s top dishes — including the pork belly tacos and anchovy fries — as well as favorites from Kiki such as the gyros, souvlaki, and vegan dishes will have a place on the menu at Sister. 

In the mornings, Sister will be open at 9 a.m. and serve breakfast bowls, coffee, Greek pastries, as well as other baked goods, including croissants and muffins. Lunch service will include salads, small plates, and a casserole special. Tattoo, the small cocktail bar alongside Kiki, remains the same. 

Sister will open on January 28, following a month-long closure to renovate the dining room, including changing out tables to make the space more open and a new mural by Plaza Midwood tattoo artist Rodney Raines meant as an homage to Soul’s signature peacock. The restaurant’s logo design is also a nod to the neighborhood’s tattoo history — something Kastanas feels is important as one of the few remaining locally owned restaurants. 

“The only thing that we can do to keep the spirit going is to maintain what we do and how we do it, and try to stay real and true to the cause,” Kastanas says. “The corporate mentality is different — the independent owners’ mentality, we have more of a family style of operating and and being and treating the neighborhood.”

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