Olympia Milk Bar

The Olympia Milk Bar, located upon busy Parramatta Road.

The Olympia Milk Bar is a cultural icon situated on Sydney's main traffic artery, Parramatta Road, Stanmore. Considerable folk lore has built up about the aged proprietor, Kirie Fotious[1], who sits in a far corner of the shop, shrouded in darkness. [2][3][4] and the unusual hours of opening of the Olympia.

The interior of the Olympia is much like a time capsule, albeit a quite poorly lit one. There are displays of old chocolate boxes and vintage advertisements around the shop. The milk bar contains facilities for making milk shakes and ice creams, but the selection of chocolate bars now seems to be fairly limited. The Stanmore Cinema was formerly adjacent to the premises, but was demolished in 2002. The upper floor of the building once contained a hair salon, known as the Olympia Salon.

The owner is the inspiration for the song "Dr Death" by Sydney garage band Sheik The Shayk. An excerpt from an upcoming novel by Anthony Macris (Capital, Volume One, Part Two) features an exhaustively detailed description of the premises [5].Further detailed descriptions of the owner and the premises can be found in the book Strawberry Hills Forever by Vanessa Berry and on the blog Dale Slamma [6].

33°53′17″S 151°10′2″E