A Culinary Journey
with Chef Jim Botsacos

How did Greek-Americans go from serving souvlaki platters at their family diners to owning 5 star award winning restaurants and serving gourmet dishes like kataifi wrapped scallops covered with a light feta cheese sauce? This is a question that many of the attendees at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in New York City had while patiently waiting for Chef Jim Botsacos to begin speaking.

By Maria Athanasopoulos

St. John’s Church hosted what turned out to be a very lively discussion with Chef Jim, of Molyvos Restaurant, titled “From the Cheeseburger to the deconstructed Moussaka Entrée: A culinary journey of Greek American Cuisine” on Wednesday, June 10th. The event was moderated by Stellene Volandes of Departures Magazine and was sponsored by many vendors including Molyvos Restaurant, Mastiha Shop and Steve Makris from Fantis Foods.

Botsacos is a third generation Greek-American/Italian-American from the Bronx, who acquired a love for food at a very early age. Although he grew up cooking with his mother, it was his father’s innovative spirit and creativity in the kitchen that influenced him to experiment with food on his own. After graduating from culinary school, Botsacos worked at some of New York’s finest restaurants including The 21 Club and Blue Water Grill where he always insured to incorporate his Greek and Italian backgrounds in most of his culinary creations. It wasn’t until a few years before opening Molyvos that his interest in creating mostly Greek progressive meals sharply sparked. This inspired Botsacos to travel to Greece and other European countries so that he can deeply explore, research and taste different foods. He even went as far as visiting the homes of villagers to see what they were cooking and how they prepared their native dishes.

In 1997 Molyvos opened and this is when the young chef’s creations “New Greek Classics” were born. Botsacos gleamed as he told the crowd how he can “Greek-A-Fy” anything. He loves testing Greek cookery and making new age dishes for his customers but would never go to the extreme, in Botsacos own words, “Feta must look like Feta!” Some of his inventive interpretations of Hellenic specialties include “Turkey a la Greque and Ouzo Cured Salmon.

The evolution of Greek food in America had a slow start compared to the cuisines of other countries, however once the doors of the first high end epicurean Hellenic restaurant opened, it was clear they were here to stay. The warm hospitality and delectable yet healthy cuisine is enough to put these new gourmet Greek restaurants ahead of the game and in a somewhat safer economic haven. Greek immigrants may have been simple neon colored diner owners that continue to serve Greek salad containing mostly iceberg lettuce and cheap feta, but 2nd and 3rd generation Greek-American chefs would not be where they are today with out them. It was their undying love for the business, authentic home-style cooking and intense work ethic that helped pave the way to opening award winning Greek restaurants and of course to the birth of the deconstructed moussaka.

For more information on upcoming events at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church, contact Kenneth Volandes at kenneth@volandeslaw.com.

©2009 NEOCORP MEDIA


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