“Being a restaurateur is one of the hardest careers. It’s not just a job—it follows you home, lives in your head and never really lets you clock out.” Demetrios (Demi) Klonaris, President of Spaces in the City, should know. He’s the son of Jim and Lori Klonaris, Knoxville’s esteemed restaurateurs for over 25 years, first, Farragut’s Kalamata Kitchen, then Café Four, now, Kefi, and Vida.
An entrepreneur who calls his life and work ‘blessed and beautiful,’ Demi explains, “I had a privileged childhood, able to be by my parents’ side whenever I wanted, working alongside them. This experience gave me a deep appreciation for being part of something bigger than myself, a family business nurtured by an ownership mentality. I’ve had the opportunity to observe experiences beyond those typical for most nine-year-olds and to engage with people in the highly social, client-facing hospitality industry. I attribute my work ethic and business acumen to my parents.”
In 2016, after traveling to Greece, completing school in Boston, and exploring career opportunities in other industries, Demi returned to Knoxville with his wife, Maria, and their growing family. It wasn’t long before he found his way back to his roots in the restaurant world, managing Café 4 for his mother. “I like to say I’m a restaurant kid who got lost along the way,” Demi laughs. “Food, beverage, and hospitality have always been important to me,” he says. “But I was looking for something a little different, a blend of office life, event life and restaurant life. Eventually, I found a way to bring it all together through event planning and venue management,” he says.
City Catering, full-service event caterers, evolved out of a conversation Demi initiated with his parents eight years ago. It’s under the family-owned corporate umbrella, Spaces in the City. This multi-venue/hospitality services company with a staff of 300 also includes: restaurants Kefi and Vida; event venues The Press Room, Jackson Terminal, and The Square Room; cocktail lounge The Vault; mobile cocktail trailer Absinthe Minded; and Demi’s newest concept, no-frills catering Drops!
“Where we once assumed event space management would be a nice revenue stream, it has become the driver, towering above our restaurants in revenue and growth.” Jackson Terminal, The Press Room, and The Square Room are our home venues, where groups rent space and City Catering hosts and caters. City Catering has also catered to 90 venues in the counties surrounding Knoxville. Their accelerated growth has emerged in a very competitive market. “This year we will do over 200 events in The Press Room alone and put on approximately 2200 events and caterings total.”
Starting modestly in 2016, Demi’s new enterprise purchased 730 North Broadway in 2017. “I am an entrepreneurial social experiment,” Demi laughs. “The best way to do entrepreneurship is with the safety net of parents with unconditional love. How blessed am I to have parents and mentors who believe in me, encouraging me with wisdom, financial help and sweat equity?” Demi and his cousins demoed the building themselves. “It was a blast. Then, Brownlee Construction built out this beautiful space that’s become Knoxville’s premier event space, The Press Room,” Demi explains. “That move solidified my place in our company as an event manager and gave me an ownership mentality. Before, I was an entrepreneur by association. Now, I was able to find entrepreneurship on my own.”
As the company was hitting its stride, Covid hit hospitality hard. “It was a tough time. My mom (she’s now a cancer survivor) was battling the disease. We had all these employees relying on us. But you persevere.” Demi now calls Covid the biggest blessing. With a third child on the way, he had more time to focus on his family. “Everything thrown at you is a blessing from God. You have to find it,” Demi believes. “We had the training ground for fine-tuning processes and learning how to run this business lean. After Covid, I ran it the way it should have been run from the start-up.”
That experience stirred ambitions to create something bigger. “Before, I was the owners’ kid who was given the keys to the kingdom. On the other side of Covid, I came out hungry for more, aware there was more to be had. We spent the next two years developing business, gaining back and building on our momentum.” Growth also came through the acquisition of three competitor caterers. Demi acquired needed assets for expansion (vans, equipment, facilities), including their renovated 6,500 square foot headquarters on North Central, a 4,000 square foot commissary, and a 2,000 square foot warehouse.
City Catering originally focused on weddings, but soon realized there was a market demand for larger event management, such as nonprofit galas and fundraising events. “I have such a heart for Knoxville’s philanthropic community of supporters. It’s amazing to get to host 40+ a year in my various spaces.” He adds it’s also a privilege to host corporate events, now a backbone of their business, so companies can treat employees, clients and community members.
It's all about relationships, Demi says, adding his on-site and off-site planners have a knack for understanding and executing an event planner’s vision. “At the heart of our work is a simple philosophy I learned from my parents: stay humble and make others shine. Our goal is to deliver events so seamless and thoughtfully executed that planners can truly enjoy the moment. When their boss asks, ‘How did you pull this off?’ they can confidently say, ‘I’m just that good!’”
City Catering’s core staff averages 100, staffing up seasonally to 130-140. “We have an amazing culture. We don’t do easy work, but we enjoy the tough nature of this business. Now Knoxville’s largest catering company, City Catering can handle your event at one of our beautiful venues, or anywhere you’d like.
We take care of the food, drinks and service with a professional team and handle everything from decor to every detail, making sure your event goes off without a hitch.”
Demi works with a leadership team of 12 office and executive staff, along with 16 managers and coordinators, from which innovative ideas emerge. “Absinthe Minded was a cool idea of Operations VP Chris Williams. We have a proprietary system to batch mass craft cocktails and keep them fresh for long periods of time. We created a mobile unit to serve craft cocktails that are pre-batched so you’re not waiting in long event lines.”
Drops! is the newest concept–City Catering quality food in to-go packaging. Order online in an easy-to-use portal, and the catering staff sets it up. No-frills catering. “I came up with Drops! to compete in the market when people plan a small get-together–business lunches, tailgating, baby showers–but don’t need total care, and it’s growing organically through word of mouth.”
“Things have truly fallen into place, and I credit that to my trust in God and my love for my family. For thirty-five years, my mom and dad have poured life lessons into me, and I like to think it was a good investment. Now I have a beautiful family of my own with my incredible wife, Maria. None of this would be possible without her unconditional love, trust, support and belief in me. It’s a rare gift having two smart, loving women in my life who continue to push me to be the man I’m meant to be.”
Demi says, “My goal is to honor my parents while also helping shape the next generation of hospitality in this town I love. When you think of eating out, hosting a private event, or feeding a crowd, I want you to think of Spaces in the City. And one day, if I am lucky, I’ll share some wisdom with my four kids, just like my mom and dad did with me: everything will just feel like a j-o-b until you can create, build, and have something of your own.”
Learn more at SpacesInTheCity.com.
“I will know I’ve instilled in my kids our family’s values: an entrepreneurial spirit, a ‘hard work’ ethic, and trustworthiness.” —Demi Klonaris.
“I was able to find entrepreneurship on my own. My parents believed in the lessons they instilled in me from a young age, trusting me to make decisions to take this business where I wanted it to go.” —Demi Klonaris.