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THE SLIPPER IS A FAMILY TRADITION
Joan Morris
Tallahassee Democrat
Published: June 4, 1988
You probably noticed the Silver Slipper's 50th anniversary advertisements, and may have even tried to win one of the year's worth of dinners at 1938 prices, which the Kalfas family gave away during their celebration.
For all but four of those years, the Kalfas family has been associated with the Slipper. James Kalfas, known as Jimmy or Papa, first came to Tallahassee in 1920. He learned the restaurant business, starting with dish washing, at the Busy Bee, located on the west side of Monroe Street between Park and College Avenues. Both Jimmy and the Busy Bee's owner, Emanuel Joanas, had emigrated from the Greek island of Patmos.
After six years, Jimmy left Florida for a better job in the north, the first of five times that he moved away and returned. Upon his final return, in 1942, he became manager of the Silver Slipper, a dine and dancing club, between South Monroe and Adamas Streets at Perkins Street. The club had 10 private dining rooms, a dance floor and a small kitchen. Between 1942 and 1947, Jimmy went from manager to partner to full owner.
The Slipper and its clientele grew. A large, open dining room was added to the south end of the building, 14 private dining rooms were added on the west side, and the kitchen was expanded on the north, with a private banquet room above.
Jimmy greeted his patrons at the door, or, if son Chris was on duty, they greeted Jimmy at the family table, the first inside the door on the old dance floor.
In the days when Leon County was "dry," politicians, businessmen and Tallahasseeans with something to celebrate knew they could bring their own spirits and have a fine steak in privacy at the Slipper. In fact, in the early days, patrons could come and go completely unseen by other diners by using the outside doors of the five rooms on the west side of the original building.
When the interior of the old Slipper was burned out in 1974, the losses most talked about were the photographs of past patrons and the huge fish that had been in a tank inside the front door.
The Slipper relocated to the lower level of the Northwood Mall. The area, formerly used by the Carriage Restaurant and Harv's Down Under, was remodeled to provide private dining rooms. The large meeting room next door became the banquet room.
Almost four years ago the Slipper moved again, to its present location on Scotty Lane. As before, there are private dining rooms, walls of photographs of patrons, a fish tank and the Kalfas family. Not "Papa" Jimmy, he died in 1974. Mama is sometimes there, although she doesn’t help out in the kitchen the way she once did. Chris and son Bill own and manage the restaurant. Chris' son Jimmy runs the lounge.
Brother-in-law Paul Coumanis has been chef for 35 years, wife Betty takes care of the books, daughter-in-law Gayle, daughters of Sarah and Tina and sisters Francine and Irene have been occasional hostesses. Nephews Dudley and Joey Bruton have worked in the kitchen and waited on tables. Not long ago, Bill's 11-year old son, Wes, escorted us to our room, the fourth generation to work in the restaurant.
May the Kalfas family and the Silver Slipper have many more happy anniversaries.
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