At the first of October Spilt Milk, 811 South Boulevard, Oak Park, quietly transitioned to a new chapter. New owners Nikos and Sandra Liargovas took the whisk from founding sisters Meg and Molly Svec.
Nikos Liargovas is not new to kitchens or running a small business. He will run the day-to-day at the bakery café.
“I was born in Greece. When I finished high school, I went to culinary school,” Liargovas said. “After that, I did also pastry school. I’ve worked in restaurants. I’ve done everything from fine dining to gyro shop. I’m confident to say I’ve done pretty much every job that a restaurant has to offer. I feel pretty confident with any position. I mean, sometimes, I, a little bit, enjoy dishwashing. It feels peaceful.”
This prepped him to make the transition to ownership. He bought his first business from an elderly Taiwanese couple who were ready to retire from their boba shop. Liargovas still owns Ma Tea House in the Orland Square Mall.
A few years later, he and his wife Sandra, who live in La Grange, were ready to add a new venture. They already knew about Spilt Milk before they found out through a broker that the place was available to buy.
“We like the place; we like the product,” Liargovas said. “We knew what we were getting into, flavor-wise. And of course, meeting Molly and Meg, they seem like great people, which they are. They’re absolutely lovely people.”
Why were the Svec sisters ready to sell?
“Our kids are getting older and demanding more of our attention and it was really rooted in the needs of our family,” Meg Svec said. “I’m having another baby in the spring, and it was really getting difficult to juggle the business. It has grown and grown, which is great, and we are very grateful for that, but it reaches a certain size where you’re like, gosh, I really wish I could give this more time, and I just can’t give it more time.”
The Svecs didn’t want to close their doors and disappoint their valued customers, so they put the business up for sale. It’s been bittersweet for them.
“When I think about like what’s hardest to leave behind, it’s all the people,” Svec said. “Not only the people I work with every day, but our customers too. There’s this one guy who orders lemon squares every summer for his kids’ wedding anniversary because we catered their wedding many years ago. It’s very emotional and I feel very honored to be included in those traditions.”
Meg and Molly Svec say they are confident that Liargovas is the right person to carry forward what they started back in 2016.
“He is so friendly, so talented,” Svec said. “Super nice guy, super enthusiastic about the community and about the product. And it’s just really been nice to work with somebody who’s so passionate.”
The Svecs aren’t leaving the area. They’ve passed all their recipes on and they look forward to being customers.
For Liargovas, the first three weeks has been as smooth a transition as he could hope for.
“I’ve got to give great thanks to the team, front and back of the house. What amazing people they have in here,” Liargovas said. “They really stood by me. They’ve been a bit patient with that transition and everything.”
He doesn’t plan on making many changes.
“Maybe 1% I’ll change. I’m going to put some soup out, for example,” Liargovas said. “I’m going to put some new savory hand pies. Those are some of my recipes, but the dough for the hand pie is Molly’s. I’m not changing that, just the filling. I promise, scones, cookies, anything like that, that’s exactly the same.”
His goal is consistency and making customers happy.
“I am really loving Oak Park,” Liargovas said. “The people are delightful, such friendly people!”
