Chef Profile
Posted by estiator at 10 July, at 03 : 44 AM Print
AGE: 33
HAILS FROM: Peloponnese, Greece
NUMBER OF YEARS IN KITCHENS: 11
NUMBER OF YEARS IN U.S. KITCHENS: 4 months
PREVIOUS RESTAURANTS: || Kypriotis Panorama (Kos) || Hilton (Kos) || Lithos (Santorini) || Cava Alta (Santorini) || Black Rose (Santorini) || Costa-Navarino
MENTORS: Dimitrakopoulos spent two years in Cost-Navarino under the tutelage of award-winning Chef Doxis Patris (Dubai, New York, Italy, Japan, Zambia, Zurich, Kenya)
FAVORITE DISH: Fresh Fish, cooked Mediterranean style and fileted “There is no ‘roof’ when it comes to Greek cuisine,” says Chef Theodore, indicating that he is among a young cadre of chefs that embrace a modern approach. “All foods, all recipes, came about because people had a need to eat,” he says. “Our approach is to mix up products and ingredients, colors, flavors… adding sweet elements to savory dishes.”
FAVORITE INGREDIENTS: Lavender and Marjoram
QUESTION FOR CHEF: How do you find Greek cuisine represented here in the United States? REPLY: Running a Greek kitchen in the United States requires greater attention with regard to flavors because the ingredients here are not the same as those in Greece. The herbs and spices, the produce and even the center-of-the-plate proteins are different. The lamb we get here is not the same as the lamb we have in Greece. The animals are raised differently, and feed on different greens. Even the grass is different from Greece to here; the climate and the soil are different and all of this plays a role in the flavors.
THEODORE DIMITRAKOPOULOS
BALOS ESTIATORIO, WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT
Striking one of the most beautiful poses on the trendy West Hartford, Connecticut dining scene is Giorgos Chatzopoulos’s Balos Estiatorio, the newest entry into a restaurant portfolio that includes six Chips locations (a legendary pancake house) and a pair of Simple Greek franchises. For this outing, Chatzopoulos has gone upscale, and brought in some high caliber talent to introduce rustic and haute Greek cuisine to his New England base.
