Zapantis, Master Chef, Cited For

Excellence on Eastern Seaboard

The image of the Hellenic Cuisine in the United States has improved drastically in the last fifteen years thanks to the emergence of star chefs the magnitude of Diane Kochilas, Michael Psilakis, Gregory Zapantis, George Kyrtatas and Maria Loi who do justice to a cuisine as ancient as history and as current as a fresh-cut rose. Going a tad further, we can say with great assurance that they are responsible for the obvious prominence of this cuisine among endless cuisines available in the United States.

 Since we’re concentrating today on Gregory Zapantis, executive chef and partner of both establishments called Kellari, one in New York and one in Washington, DC, we must start by highlighting some of his distinctions, namely the fact that Hillary Clinton prefers to eat at the Washington establishments, the fact that a posh banquet was extended there during Patriarch Vartholomeos’ visit there two years ago, and that fellow Hellene legislators, past and present such as Senator Olympia Snow, the Sarbanes, both Senator Paul and son Congressman John as well as Rep Gus Billirakis and father, former Congressman Michael always are regular guests there. He has his personalities in New York too, such as former city mayor Michael Bloomberg  and designer-entrepreneur Michael Kors.

 Zapantis who has worked in the kitchens of Milos and Trata and Thalassa before coming to Kellari, credits the advancement of the Hellenic Cuisine in the fact that the new generation of chefs treat this cuisine as is treated the French, Italian and Oriental. Also Gregory insists that the word ‘tastes’ does not clarify the gastronomic interpretation of the Greek work ‘ghefsis’ which is far more versatile in describing the new techniques that ‘ghefsis’ assumes with very old ingredients. Remarkable as well is the speed with which recipes can be turned into dishes because of new techniques, a long shot from the grueling days of the past.

“Today’s chefs,” Zapantis asserts, “have all the tools to create perfection, particularly when ‘seasonal’ has been reintroduced to the products used in preparing a meal. What it translates to is that ingredients used in today’s dishes haven’t grown somewhere on the other side of the world and arrived here after a nominal period. It means that everything is produced here locally which explains their freshness as in the early years: From the Farm to the Table sort of a thing,” he concludes.

Chef Zapantis

 Zapantis’ career spans decades and he has been decorated with citations of every kind.  Two such citations are for Outstanding contributions to the James Beard Society in 2000 and 2006 (the one in 2000 was signed by founder Julia Child) and participated in a panel at Yale University as part of the Greek Food, Public Health & Policy II, moderated by food critic and master chef Diane Kochilas. Awarded three stars by Forbes, celebrated by Wine Spectator Magazine, the chef saw his efforts acknowledged , not only bu James Beard Society but also the Johnson & Wales University as well. Fund-raising events and celebrity dinners are aplenty throughout his years of service particularly during his tenure at Thalassa and Kellari. He has prepared seafood dishes at the Broadmoor Bistro, Overland Park, KS, for seafood aficionados in 2006,

He participated in the Culinary Institute of America in California at their 2008 Worlds of Flavor International Conference & Festival, a Mediterranean Flavor Odyssey, and in 2005 he was the subject of a excellent review for Thalassa Restaurant from Eric Asimov in the New York Times Diner’s Journal. He has also prepared dishes for many Greek Trade Center events throughout the years.

Gregory who was only 13 when he migrated to the US from his native Ionian island of Cephalonia, lives in Long Island with his wife Fotini, and has three children, Maria, Haroula and Panayotis. A proud father, he credits his wife for their proper upbringing, ethics, and knowledge of the Greek language, saying that it is the work of a ‘good wife.’