For Baltimore native Chrys Kefalas, the restaurant business runs in his blood.
Kefalas, who is opening his Greek ice cream parlor in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, recalled taking orders and cleaning bathrooms from the time he was 12 for his family’s litany of popular Baltimore area restaurants.
Whether it was his grandfather’s Italian spot in Highlandtown, his godfather’s well-known Costas Inn, or his uncle’s restaurant, Jimmy’s Famous Seafood, Kefalas hopes to carry on the family’s culinary legacy with his new store, Yala Greek Ice Cream, located at 3143 N St., NW.
“We wanted to put the hardened hospitality that I had in my family restaurant background to full force,” Kefalas said of opening Yala.
The Georgetown ice cream shop brings the light, traditional flavors of the Greek Islands to the District.
Most of the flavors are based on classic recipes from Rhodes, Greece, Kefalas noted. The Yala owner goes to Rhodes every summer and met the ice cream maker for his favorite store on the island a few years ago. Last year, Kefalas spent time with the Greek ice cream connoisseur learning to make the base recipe.
The base recipe, a light and tangy vanilla, is the core of most of the store’s other flavors. Fittingly, at Yala, it’s named Papou’s Promise after Kefalas’ papou (Greek for grandfather).
“His heart, his legacy, his spirit, his values — that is everything we are and everything we aspire to be,” Kefalas said of his grandfather, who died about a decade ago.
Kefalas was confident that if his grandfather were still here today to see Yala open, he “would smile wide like he always did.”
“The fact that people are still talking about him, and will see him in the shop and feel his spirit and heart is something he would have never thought was even possible,” Kefalas added.
In addition to Papou’s Promise, the store offers customers a variety of both Greek and classic American flavors. From mint chip to a Mediterranean pistachio to a rich honey baklava-inspired flavor, Kefalas said there’s something for everyone.
Kefalas’ Yiayia’s Karamela flavor was inspired by the caramel candies his grandmother always kept around the house. His personal favorite, though, is Yia Mas — a light, Greek yogurt-based ice cream with tangy wild cherries.
Generally, Greek ice cream is lighter and less sweet than typical American ice cream, Kefalas added.
The blue and white store welcomes customers as it blends the look of traditional American ice cream parlors with the small Greek villages from which Kefalas’ family originated.
Designed by Washington, D.C.-based artist Maggie O’Neill, the store features a rich and vibrant color palette with soft wooden accents, making the space “homey and comforting,” Kefalas said.
He remembered how the core of his family’s restaurants was community. Kefalas plans to carry on that legacy through Yala.
Through Costas Inn, Jimmy’s Famous Seafood and his grandfather’s Italian place, Kefalas saw how customers would become part of their family.
“I saw firsthand how hard the business is, but also how much heart [his grandfather] poured into it, and the end result was people who would walk into our restaurant as strangers became part of our extended family,” Kefalas said.
Yala Greek Ice Cream has supported local groups like the D.C. Central Kitchen, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington and the Greek America Foundation in an effort to support the local area.
“We want to be a part of this community,” Kefalas said. “We want to make the community better.”
While running Yala, Kefalas — who has a background in law — said he plans to simultaneously stay in his current job at the National Association of Manufacturers.
Through his successful law career, Kefalas suspects his grandmother will connect most with his culinary venture.
“This, to my grandmother, seems to resonate more than anything else I’ve ever done. It’s what we know, it’s what our life’s been about.”
Yala Greek Ice Cream will be open Monday through Thursday from noon to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Have a news tip? Contact Irit Skulnik at iskulnik@baltsun.com or on X as @irit_skulnik.
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