7 minute read
The View and Food Combination Makes the Restaurant Fully Booked
BY RUDINA HOXHA & JOSE PINTO REPORTING FROM ATHENS, GREECE
Koustoudis Asterios, who is the Complex Executive Chef at the Grand Bretagne Hotel and King George Luxury Collection Hotel in Athens, Greece, sat down with TRAILBLAZING MAGAZINE to talk about the spectacular plates he does alongside with his big team, why Grande Bretagne is different from the other hotels and how does it feel to work with Grande Bretagne and King George Luxury Collection Hotels. For him, the inspiration at his work comes from Greece, this country which is “a nice ride for inspiration.” “The inspiration always comes from the traditional Greek recipes and the old techniques the Greeks used every day in the past. This is the basis to be inspired to do your modern cuisine with a Greek philosophy or Mediterranean style,” he says in this exclusive interview.
Full interview below:
Grand Bretagne Hotel is one of the 100 best restaurants in the world and it is the only Greek one. How do you keep up the sustainability and the variety of such a lavish food?
First of all, we are lucky because we are in Greece which has all kinds of fruits, vegetables as well as abundance in ingredients which are found all over around Athens. It is very important for us to have many suppliers for each ingredient we need. For example, the cheese, the fish, the seafood and many other ingredients are provided to us by many suppliers on a daily basis. Everybody wants to be our partner and establish a relationship with Grand Bretagne Hotel. We are
happy because they can support us with fruits, vegetables and all kinds of ingredients. I can give you another example. This season is dominated by the mussels. Two big suppliers are at our disposal for mussels, truffles etc. In our menu, we need to have seasonal products and ingredients, so the recipes are based on this concept or philosophy. Our menu bears a Mediterranean theme but with many Greek flavors, tastes and of course with some very unique products from Greece like sea bass or the famous grape leaves which is on our menu all the time. The truth is that this restaurant is the most famous and the most popular in Athens. It is a busy restaurant. The combination of the view and the food makes the restaurant fully booked. Here you can hardly find a free table from May to October. We are very lucky for this. At the end, for me, the most important thing is that when you are here you take your lunch or your dinner while enjoying the Acropolis view. The most difficult thing for us is that you need to remember also the food and not only the view (laughing). But we are on the good track. The support of the team of Grand Bretagne, of its General Manager, Mr. Tim Ananiadis and Mrs. Christine Papathanassiou, Director of Public Relations and others has made it easy for us to make this experience a success.
Where do you get the inspiration to make such spectacular dishes with unforgettable tastes and flavors as well as presentations?
The inspiration is all over. The inspiration may come from social media where you get a spark. But the big point for the people, who live in Athens, is that if you take your car or bike and have a small a tour, like an hour, you come back with a lot of ideas
and a fresh mind. You can go to the mountains, to the sea and anywhere else. If you are busy here and the tempo is quick, you can take a nice ride for inspiration. In my mind, the inspiration always comes from the traditional Greek recipes and the old techniques the Greeks used every day in the past. This is the basis to be inspired, to do your modern cuisine with a Greek philosophy or Mediterranean style. Because the ingredients have been the same in the past and now. The good thing is to collect and pick up the right ingredients which are fresh all over Greece. This is also part of the basis for my inspiration.
This Hotel is a venue for many weddings, high-level events or
VIPs from all over the world. It is really an extra responsibility to keep up with the needs of all these different categories. How do you make it?
I have a great support from the managers of the Hotel but also from my kitchen team. I have a lot of cooks, as many as 80. At peak times, we are more than 100 cooks. So, we have a big team, the pastry chef with his team as well. You have a lot of things running at the same time in Grand Bretagne and King George and it is all the time like that. Regarding the VIP’s, I have to say that it is very important when the government has an important dinner or lunch, or high level delegations’ visits, or official visits of presidents from other countries. Most of the time, they stay at Grand Bretagne Hotel. My team is responsible for the diet of the President or of the whole delegation. I represent the Greek philosophy and gastronomy. So, it is very important to let them go with the greatest memories from Greece and its cuisine. Two years ago, in the winter time, the Israeli President was in our Hotel and he was very impressed by the Greek cuisine. Among many delicacies, he tasted even a typical Greek salad which he found amazing. So he asked me: how do you do this? I replied: Mr. President it is not only about the ingredients. It is all about what is around you. So, if you are here and you have the sun, the Acropolis view and all these vibes from Greece, then you are above everything.
How has the mix group of cooks from different parts of the world has influenced on the quality of the food at Grand Bretagne Hotel? Have you learned from each other?
Of course we learn from one another. But above all, it is of a great importance the ingredients you have in your recipe. You have to find them in their best quality and at the best price. This trio is very important in the long run. All our searches are focused on the local market, local products and local ingredients to reach our objectives.
Do you consider yourself lucky?
Of course. I am 41 years old with 21 years of experience in the five-star hotels only. But at Grand Bretagne and King George, if you have a dream as a cook, you make it true. But behind this, there is a lot of responsibility and I must say it is a very difficult job.
How do you balance your work and family life?
It is not balanced. I have a great wife and two great daughters. She is all the time with them and they miss me. But as they are growing up, the eldest daughter, Adriana, is realizing what is going on, what is my job. So, it is very important to have a feedback from her.
What are your priorities and those of your team?
In Grand Bretagne, the best priority for me and for my team is that every customer must have our personal service even if we are here with 250 other people. This is another aspect that makes the difference of Grand Bretagne Hotel from the other hotels. In the breakfast time, I greet each and every one and then at lunch time and then at evening time. I do the same. So, this is very important for the customer. Two years ago, Ferran Adria, the Spanish chef from Catalonia, was in our Hotel alongside with his family for three days. On his last day, I was waiting at the lobby to say goodbye to him. Once he saw me, he said: “We have so many things to do. You don’t
All desserts of Grand Bretagne Hotel are curated by Chef Patissier, Arnaud Larher.
have to say goodbye to us.” But I replied: “This is the Greek hospitality, that you have to say “Welcome and Farewell to the people.” I explained that to him and he was impressed because he loved Greece and its history. During the three days he stayed with us, I prepared for him typical Greek breakfasts. I presented Pita to him while I explained that Pita comes in 5 or 6 versions from the North of Greece to the very south, Crete Island. In the latter, for example, the pita comes in honey and almost. Hearing such, he was very impressed.
