Η Georgianna Chiliadaki completed her studies in England in Political Science. They did not win her because her mind and heart were elsewhere. In 2002, he enrolled at ICE School in Manhattan, New York, where he studied Culinary Arts and Restaurant Management Studies. In 2007 he founded the company with Nikos Roussos and Argyro Chiliadaki Funky Gourmet.

Today Georgianna Chiliadaki, is a very successful female chef, was awarded Best Female Chef at the 100 Restaurant Awards Ceremony.

Funky Gourmet became an emblematic restaurant and in crisis Greece it managed to stand out globally, winning 2 Michelin stars in just 4 years of operation while for 5 years now, it is on the list of the best restaurants in the world, according to the Trip Advisor guide.

Just as Funky Music utilizes different classical jazz instruments - saxophone, trombone, trumpet, bass, drums - it creates a fresh, loud, rhythmic and fun music that excites you to dance, so Funky Gourmet's food utilizes classic flavors in innovative appearances and uniforms, it awakens the gastronomic senses in equally frantic rhythms!

• You were born: In Athens a few years ago!

• Childhood memories: A typical gastronomic memory of my childhood was the Sunday meals at my grandmother's house. My grandmother, born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt, was a poor cook. At lunches when the whole family gathered together, he always cooked as a first course, mallow soup, a dish that was commonly eaten in Arabia. Then followed a delicious meal that always consisted of many stages, appetizer, meat, salad, dessert. These great meals in duration, always took me. Each time the meal ended with coffee, tea and mignardises, and we all felt a tax and joy, looking forward to the next time. I also have vivid memories of my trip to Stockholm when I was just 11 years old. My godfather, who lived there at the time, had taken me with him at Christmas to celebrate the holidays there. I will never forget the brunch we ate the day after Christmas. For the first time in my life I ate and got excited trying deer, cooked-of course- medium rare with plenty of blood and waffles with maple syrup. In fact, when my godfather asked me what gift I wanted for Christmas, a souvenir from Sweden, meaning a toy or a doll, I asked him for a waffle maker, which I still have today!

• Children's favorite food: My favorite food was made by my mom and it was the reddish rooster with thick spaghetti and grated kefalograviera. Food that I still enjoy with the same longing.

• Studies: After finishing school, I went directly to England to study European Studies and Italian at the University of Reading. And while I was graduating with honors, my passion for cooking won out. So after graduating from university in England, I went straight to America and enrolled at the ICE Cooking School in Manhattan, New York.

• When did you feel that you would dedicate yourself to cooking:I have loved cooking since I was little. I first started cooking when I was only 6 years old, while growing up cooking became my favorite hobby. The reason for my career change was during my studies in England where I cooked daily for my friends while organizing big meals on the days we celebrated their birthdays. After finishing my studies in England, my parents, seeing my love for cooking, encouraged me to change my career and so I decided to pursue a career in the subject I really loved, going to study in America. Beyond that, my life changed!

 

• Cooks who influenced your cooking: Many chefs have influenced me in cooking, such as the Catalan chef Ferran Andria. He was and will be one of the greatest cooks of all time, where I had the good fortune to meet up close during a stage I did at the famous restaurant of El Bulli in 2005. In 2006 I collaborated with Nikos Roussos, my classmate from school cooking in America, where we decided to create Funky Gourmet, a very small catering designed to bring the restaurant home. It was then that for the first time we had to design a menu of our own and not follow the dishes of another chef. From then until today Nikos and I cook together and we are very influenced by each other. With the combination of our forces in cooking we managed to win 2 Michelin stars in our restaurant Funky Gourmet in Greece, while our restaurant Opso in London was a great success serving modern comfort Greek cuisine.

• Images or events that inspired you: The jewelry kitchen of El Bulli and the temperament of Ferran Andria. A man unique on the planet, without a watch, without a car, without a family, a genius completely given to the world of cooking.

• Where did you work: Finishing my studies in cooking in 2003, I worked in various restaurants in America, Europe and Athens. In 2006, I founded the company Funky Gourmet together with my sister Argyro and Nikos Roussos, launching the idea of ​​private cheffing in Greece. In 2007, Funky Gourmet settled in Kerameikos where we introduced the idea of ​​private cheffing, offering an enclosed space, exclusively for private meals. The project was a great success in a short period of time, with the result that in November 2009, we opened our doors to the public and operated as a restaurant.

• Materials you love: I like many different ingredients, such as the intoxicating aroma of lime zest, I am crazy about cinnamon, vanilla, and I love cheeses, especially Greek, but also French.

• Philosophy of your kitchen: It is the modern Greek cuisine that is expressed in an avant-garde way in Funky Gourmet and in a casual-comfort way in Opso. By Avant Garde, we mean avant-garde, high gastronomy that activates the senses and approaches our visitors in an unconventional way. We are inspired by tradition and create a modern Greek cuisine refined and fun, which evokes emotions and evokes memories. A Funky Gourmet kitchen.

• Dishes you created, loved and left traces: Definitely the village salad, in the form of all-white granita, an emblematic dish of our restaurant, and the Funky Gourmet picnic, a dish that was inspired in 2009, we just opened as a restaurant, and we are very happy that it has been a source of inspiration for many colleagues around the world.

• The role of locality in food: For several years now, the global trend in cooking is for chefs to honor their place and its ingredients and to highlight the uniqueness of their country's cuisine through the raw material. This trend is also presented in Greece and this is very pleasant because in this way the gastronomic wealth of our country is highlighted worldwide.

• Greek cuisine today: We are very happy that Greek cuisine is gaining more and more widespread name abroad. We see through our customers both at Funky Gourmet who are to a large extent foreigners, but also at our restaurant Opso in London, that they recognize the uniqueness of Greek products, and the deep taste of our cuisine.

• Greek gastronomy in the face of the crisis: It is a fact that in times of crisis art flourishes. Thus, cooking in Greece, as an art form and a way of expressing emotions, has experienced great growth in recent years. In this context, the flourishing of Greek gastronomy is a pole of attraction for gastronomic tourism and is a response to the crisis.

• How would you like to be considered: Man as pioneering and creative as fair and right.

• An unforgettable moment: Surely the day we learned that we were awarded a second Michelin star will remain indelible in my memory. Even today I shudder when I think of our feelings on that terrible day! It was one of the happiest and most moving moments of Funky Gourmet, not only personally, but for the whole restaurant team back then. Needless to say, there was a party with friends, clients and associates who came to congratulate us that night until morning!

• Dreams of gastronomic content: To manage to bring the third star in our country!

• Life dream: Find a way to eat whatever you want and not gain weight!

• Farewell: Hello Mr. Pitta, 'I think this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship'. Thank you so much for hosting your page.