It is proof of the Greek myth that the resourceful Odysseus always succeeded, despite the blows of fate: if the Homeric hero had ever been a cook, he would surely have followed the path of the award-winning chef Nicholas Polementi, who is often chosen by the Greek state as a guest at its various events when it wants to talk about the accomplished Greeks abroad. Having already won a Michelin star and living his dream of cooking for US President Barack Obama, Poulmentis is now considered one of the most recognizable chefs in America and the one chosen by the New York Times as a guide in their multi-page feature on Greek wines.
Today, as he prepares to take part in the popular TV cooking series “Chef’s Table” and having already been on several shows on the Food Network, the Greek chef sees his name dominating the book of the 68 top chefs in the world. Without exaggeration, if anyone has taken it upon himself to reinvent Greek cuisine as part of fine dining and Greek flavors as a fine dining experience, it is Nicholas Polemendis: A member of the powerful Noema Group, he sees his restaurant dominating the pages of New York’s finest and celebrities battling for a table to sample the exquisite black taramas that made him famous, as well as the unparalleled “Greek gnocchi,” as he calls his elaborate recipe with Peloponnese gnocchi that have driven Americans crazy.
We were lucky enough to taste these at a special evening with the same guest chef and protagonist of an unforgettable experience at the Mar-Bella Collection’s “Elix” hotel in Perdika, Thesprotia, as part of the original “Greek Chefs Abroad” festival. There, on the hotel’s beautiful balcony, he talked to us about his future projects, such as his new book, and his impressions of Buckingham Palace, where he arrived knowing that he had prostituted, like the ancient Greek hero, another inaccessible fortress.
In the US due to crisis
“Daring wins,” insists Nicholas Poulmentis as he tells us his story on the lovely rooftop of Elix, overlooking the beautiful Corfu and the clouds making their own designs in the Greek sky – the one he had wished for, he says, as well as the smells of his beautiful place, Chirigo, where it all began. With his father teaching him the tastes and secrets of the sea and tying him, literally like Odysseus, to a mast of a boat in which they sailed the seas fishing, he couldn’t help but devote himself to the kitchen, even going so far as to attend the famous Le Cordon Bleu school.
“My mother was a great cook too, we all loved the taste. My father, originally from Chios, found himself an immigrant in America, where he met my Piraeus mother, leaving behind his entire fortune, which was embezzled by an uncle from the island. That’s why he never wanted to return to Chios and preferred Kythera, where my family opened a small hotel.” But the father kept his mind on America, as he constantly urged his son to renew his American passport, which he kept in a safe. That’s what Nicholas Poulmentis sought when the financial crisis broke out, so he decided to take his family, his wife and his daughter, just two years old, and head to the city that never sleeps.
But nothing is easy unless someone gives you a chance – and the Greeks didn’t help, they turned their backs on him. Only the Jews of New York seemed to see the talent and pave the way for him. “I used to sleep on the benches with the family because the money we had for hotels eventually ran out,” he confesses with some bitterness. But just when they had decided to return, a chance meeting happened that helped him get a job and a house. “If you don’t have a permanent job in America, no one will accept to rent you anything. It was hard at first, but I knew that’s where my destiny was. It just so happened that my father died at the time and I couldn’t go to his funeral. But my mother, knowing that I had just gotten a job, gave me her blessing and told me not to go. It had to be eight years before I could visit my father’s grave in Kythera.”
The recipe with the gnocchi
Knowing that in America it is the pioneers who are distinguished, not those who follow insurance policies, he expected to make a difference: “In New York I made it through hard work, since when others were sleeping I was cooking. That’s how I came to make the black taramas that established me and perfected the goggles recipe. It was 3 in the morning and I was sitting in the pantry looking at an empty, discarded cardboard box of tomatoes across from me when I got the idea to add parmesan to the recipe: I wrote it on the cardboard box and passed it to the recipe book knowing that I had now perfected it.”
This divine recipe of his delicious “Greek gnocchi” with aromatic beurre blanc and Aji Amarillo sauce, stuffed with crab, a velvety perfection that made him the ultimate master of creative Greek and Mediterranean cuisine, we were lucky enough to taste together with a unique pairing by wine master Konstantinos Lazarakis, as a tangible proof of the tantalizing evolution of Greek cuisine on this unique evening at the excellent “Pearl” restaurant at “Elix”.
On this balcony overlooking the Ionian Sea, having completed hours in the kitchen, he talks with unexpected passion about Greek ingredients, such as the gongs he proudly included in his menu, the sushi with vine leaves, and the lily that he convinced importers of Greek products to bring to America thanks to the consumption of his popular recipes. Also, a simple idea of enriching his salads with brine-dipped caper leaves sent to him by his mother from Kythera made Americans rave. And thanks to him, they learned to eat orange pie, an incredible dessert we tasted in the form of a bowling ball with gold leaves on top – who would have thought that this unforgettable Greek flavor would become the ultimate gourmet choice? “In the same way, I taught Americans about mezzovone, which they go crazy about, and so many other Greek products that I think can take off if they become known. But they also need help from Greece and the awareness that they need to operate professionally and not in a ‘windmill, windscrew’ kind of way.”
It is with some bitterness that he confesses to us that when he asked for Greek wines to be tasted in America for the New York Times’ multi-page feature with the inventive title “Skip the Bordeaux, Go for the Assyrtiko”, very few Greek wine producers responded to his invitation and had to see the publication to rush afterwards to request a place on the list. He was, after all, one of the few who dared to talk about the fine quality of Greek wines and Greek taste in the “New York Times”, with his book “The Novelty of Greek Cuisine” becoming an absolute best seller.
He was also the first Greek chef to participate in the New York City Wine & Food Festival, and he did so with the famous American chef Carla Hall. He even plans to continue his TV appearances and the book publishing that made him famous.
With Obama
Of course all of this was achieved with tremendous effort and a constant sense of curiosity that led him to remote places like Alaska, where he went to learn all the techniques of fish and introduce America to the secrets of dry aging fish and the different techniques of dry aging fish from head to toe with other famous chefs.
These attributes caught the attention of the White House people, along with his passion for Greek cuisine, so they invited him to be part of a big celebratory event prepared by the Obama team and he ended up being part of the famous closed club of chefs responsible for the high culinary services offered to prominent government officials and world leaders. This is the famous Le Club des Chefs des Chefs (CCC) which recognized the work of Poulmentis. In fact, he was recently invited to cook in the kitchens of Buckingham Palace as part of one such invitation. “They do a tremendous job, they are excellent professionals and it was truly a huge honor and pleasure for me to befriend this great executive chef of the White House, Christina Comerford.”
She is the famous Filipino-American who “fed” five American presidents and perhaps the only one who united Democrats and Republicans who recognized her value. She retired a few days ago from the front lines of the White House with new plans and various actions in the works, which she and Poulmenti are discussing. He confesses that she paved the way for him to have the opportunity to walk through the heavy doors of the White House and Buckingham, as well as Monaco, where he will be in a few months.
Who he appreciates
However, he doesn’t forget the difficult times in Greece, which he visits whenever he can with the same excitement, always making sure to try new flavors and restaurants filled with culinary memories each time. One of the experiences he records is his visit to the iconic five-star hotel “Elix” of the Mar-Bella Collection, stating that he is delighted with the level of professionalism and the cohesion of the team.
Asked which Greek chef he recognizes, he doesn’t mince words. “I have seen many famous chefs be inconsistent and undeserving of the stars they have earned. But if there’s one person I recognize as a truly tremendous chef who deservedly carries a Michelin star, it’s the chef of “King George” Nikos Livadias. He truly honors the profession and shows how important it is to make consistent, good food that lasts and to be consistent in what you do. I haven’t met him personally, but I know from his food that he’s great.”
What Nicholas Poulmentis considers the highest good, along with his unquenchable curiosity for new flavors and conquests within this never-ending exciting adventure, is called a return to the one and only Ithaca he has known in his life: that of taste.
