Ο Asterios Koustoudis was born in Thessaloniki in 1978. Educated in culinary schools in Greece and in seminars in Paris, he worked in well-known restaurants and hotels. Some of them are the "Athiri" in Thessaloniki, the "Macedonia Palace" hotel, the "Agioli" in the Electra Palace hotel in Thessaloniki, as well as the "Vardis" of the Pentelikon hotel, where it was awarded a Michelin star for its Greek Mediterranean cuisine. Today he is the Executive Chef of the restaurant GB Roof Garden, at the Hotel Great Britain.

In his cooking he uses the method of "slow cooking" - at low temperature and for many hours - and in combination with good raw materials is the epitome of healthy and delicious cuisine.

• You were born: Thessaloniki, 1978 in a clinic in the city center.

• Childhood memories: Many walks in Aristotelous Square and in the summers with my two brothers in my mother's village, in Vrasna, Thessaloniki. Lots of fishing, bikes, football. He had chickens, ducks, rabbits, etc. in the yard. I really liked the wild birds such as goldfinches, flowers, bats etc. From my grandmother I remember the food she made in sofra and the figs she hung on a thread to dry and the unforgettable milk pie with fresh milk from the animals of the stable. My grandfather and I went to the mountains to pick wild oregano.

• Children's favorite food: Meatballs with tomato and peppers in the pan, watermelon with feta cheese in summer and egg-lemon chicken soup with vermicelli.

• Studies: Graduate of General Lyceum, School of Officers of Xanthi (I only went to sports and psychological tests, I never started), graduate culinary technician IEK Kalamaria Thes / nikis, graduate of STEE Perea.

• When did you feel that you would dedicate yourself to cooking: When I started school I realized that I did it with a lot of pleasure and I did not see it as a job. Then entering the professional kitchen I got excited and started making plans in my mind on how I could get as much knowledge and experience on cooking as possible.
• Cooks who influenced your cooking: I have been influenced and am influenced by many things created by colleagues around me. There were many that I got, techniques and procedures. The chef who worked in my first steps and passed on his philosophy to me is Sotiris Evangelou. We collaborated at different times but no matter how many years pass I will always consider him my mentor. From abroad I have been watching Ducasse and Daniel Boulud for several years, whom I had the good fortune to meet in Monte Carlo and at a festival in Mougin, New France.

• Images or events that inspired you: Pictures I have of my mother's pots (planting, watering and harvesting), storing some products in the basement without a refrigerator for better preservation. I also vividly remember the simple snack wrapped in the plaid handkerchief that my grandfather took with him. The small grocery store in the neighborhood where you had to pre-order what you want and it will come after several days. Picking the tomatoes in the field under the hot August sun, my mother prepares sausages from the beginning of the process and hangs them to dry in the air. From all these memories I learned to appreciate the raw material, to respect it and to try to stand out every time I cook.

• Where did you work: The main stations of my culinary career are: Macedonia Palace and Electra Palace in Thessaloniki, Pentelikon and now in Great Britain.

• Materials you love: There is no specific but categories. Like vegetables and fruits when they are in season. I also really like fresh herbs and citrus fruits. They give aromas and flavors intense with depth and are the connecting link between the ingredients of a recipe.

• Philosophy of your kitchen: My philosophy revolves around seasonality, freshness of materials and simplicity. I try to match as few different ingredients as possible so that in the end result they are distinct and with the right taste balance between them.

• Dishes you created, loved and left traces: There is no specific dish. All depending on my cooking experience and the style of the restaurants I worked in which had their own philosophy. Some of them are the fried sweet trachanas, the zucchini flowers stuffed with seafood, the scallops with roasted cauliflower puree raisins with almonds, the lamb with carrot and cumin puree, the donuts with cinnamon ice cream.

• The role of locality in food: I think that the locality of a dish to each visitor completes his experience and creates through the taste memory indelible images for the specific place. It is very important that the local Cuisine emerges from its base and not in modern variations. Let us show the world the real Greek Cuisine and places and let the gastronomic restaurants of the country dare the different, which have both the technique and the appropriate equipment.

• Greek cuisine today: Cooks in Greece in recent years have made great progress in the technical part. They support Greek Cuisine at a high level. In general, the profile of Greek Cuisine abroad is at a very good level and is constantly rising. I think the challenge is in the simple taverns, fish taverns and traditional grills, kitchens (almost non-existent), taverns. Only if we promote these will we be able to have a solid foundation and make our wonderful local products and local recipes known around the world.

• Greek gastronomy in the face of the crisis: Greek gastronomy encountered a big problem because 10 years ago when the crisis started, most products were imported at high prices to withstand the crisis. This helped the Greek products to find their place in the restaurants but also the cooks to get to know and appreciate them. After all, in Greece we have always found a way to react to difficulties. I think as consumers and customers we have become stricter and more selective. This has led most restaurants to the right value for money and generally make their product better.

• How would you like to be considered: A fighter cook who likes to share and share his culinary philosophy.

• An unforgettable moment: Not necessarily pleasant. When I was serving a very important table in the restaurant, my wife called me in fear and told me that our house had been broken into. I sent Sous Chef home and I went when I finished the table and of course my wife had gone through a big shock on her own.

• Dreams of gastronomic content: To see my family grow up happy and to claim to cook for my girls' wedding, to be able to capture my great love for cooking in the happiest moment of my beloved children.

• Life dreams: At the end of my career I feel as romantic with cooking as I did at the beginning.

• Farewell: I wish each cook individually good strength, patience and good progress.