Remembering the life of Lula Valissarakos and Siraco’s restaurant
Long-time residents in the Wenatchee Valley will remember Siraco’s Restaurant on Mission St. in Wenatchee and the warm hospitality delivered by Jim and Lula Valissarakos. Lula passed away on Dec. 19, 2025 in Santa Barbara. She was preceded in death by Jim in 2013.
I had the opportunity to speak with their son, Konstantine, about their life and legacy in our valley. When his parents retired from the restaurant business in 1999, they followed him to California where Konstantine had carved out a successful career in real estate.
Konstantne’s heart is still very much connected to North Central Washington.
Sirocco’s was an important gathering place for community leaders for many years. I recall my dad Wilfred being a regular customer at the establishment, meeting regularly with folks like real estate entrepreneur Jim Davenport, JoAnn and Mike Walker, Carl Campbell, Phil Lassila and many others. I suspect that a lot of civic improvement projects were connected to the restaurant.
“I am very proud of the history and the people of Wenatchee. My parents were a part of it and I’m very grateful (for that),” said Konstantine.
Growing up in Cashmere gave Konstantine a birds eye view of the importance of community building. He spent a lot of time at the Cashmere Cafe, which was founded by the grandfather he shares a name with.
“They were really a rock in the Cashmere community,” Konstantine remembered. He spent a lot of time with his grandparents at their Chase Avenue home.
His parents carried on that tradition. “Dad was an extraordinary person. He was very elegant and very smart and very kind and a very accomplished person. I was very proud to be able to say I knew him,” said Konstantine.
His mother had quite an interesting life. She left Greece at age 15 and relocated to the United States.
Lula had a keen eye for design and that led her to work with lots of famous people. “When Shirley Jones won the Academy Award, she was wearing a gold beaded dress that my mother made,” said Konstantine. Lula also did work for luminaries like Ella Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Taylor and Barbra Streisand.
“It was quite an adjustment for her to go from Beverly Hills to Wenatchee, but she brought a sense of herself and her great style with her wherever she went,” said Konstantine. His parents became an important part of civic life in the Wenatchee Valley.
Konstantine has made quite a name for himself in the real estate business in Southern California, selling property worth nearly $3 billion. He got started in the business after talking with the late Harriet Bullitt and the late Phil Lassila, who owned the Liberty Theater. Their encouragement and the lessons he learned growing up in the Wenatchee Valley made important contributions to his success.
One of the lessons he learned was the value of getting to know the people in your community, a lesson that was a regular part of the experience at Siraco’s restaurant. Institutions that foster and support a greater sense of community make all the difference in the success of a city.
“The little seed can become the most beautiful flower if you give it enough tender care,” said Konstantine. Lula’s obituary captured her warm, generous spirit.
“Lula was strong yet gentle humble yet wise and knew when to speak and when silence was enough. Her life reminds one that greatness is not measured in how much noise we make, but how deeply we touch the lives of others. Lula was a natural-beautiful and charismatic with a sense of exacting detail and style,” according to the obit.
“She was always her authentic self and worked tirelessly for her immediate family, friends, and her church, leaving a stamp of angelic authority. Wherever she went she brought her faith with her beautiful smile,” it continued.
We are fortunate to have had the opportunity to know Jim and Lula Valissarakos at Siraco’s. They contributed to making this a better place to live.
