George Mavrothalassitis is a
chef
A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...
and restaurateur known as one of the cofounders of
Hawaii Regional Cuisine
The cuisine of Hawaii incorporates five distinct styles of food, reflecting the diverse food history of settlement and immigration in the Hawaiian Islands.
In the pre-contact period of Ancient Hawaii (300 AD-1778), Polynesian voyagers brough ...
in the early 1990s. Mavrothalassitis is particularly known for individual pairings of wines with each dish in a multicourse meal.
Life
Mavrothalassitis was born in
Provence, and moved to the United States in 1985. In 1988 he came to
Hawaii when he was recruited to be the
executive chef of ''La Mer'' at the
Halekulani Hotel
Halekulani is a historic oceanfront luxury hotel located on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii, established in 1917. The hotel contains 453 rooms in five buildings on of property. Halekulani is a Hawaiian word meaning "House Befitting Heaven".
...
in
Honolulu, Hawaii. From 1995-1998 he was executive chef of the
Four Seasons Hotel
Four Seasons Hotels Limited, trading as Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, is an international luxury hotel and resort company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Four Seasons currently operates more than 100 hotels and resorts worldwide.D ...
in
Maui
The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...
, and the
chef de cuisine of ''Seasons Restaurant''. In 1998 he opened his own restaurant, named for his nickname, Chef Mavro in Honolulu, at 1969 South King Street. In April 2007, Mavrothalassitis opened Cassis, a casual dining restaurant with French and Hawaiian influences, also in Honolulu, which closed after ten months.
Awards and accolades
In 2000, he appeared in the November cover story of ''
Wine Spectator
''Wine Spectator'' is an American lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture, and gives out ratings to certain types of wine. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertain ...
'' magazine as one of six selected chefs. In October 2002, ''
Gourmet Magazine'' named his restaurant one of "America's Best Restaurants," the only mention from Hawaii. In 2003 the
James Beard Foundation awarded Mavrothalassitis ''Best Chef: Northwest/Hawaii''. Chef Mavro was the only Hawaii restaurant to make a place on Esquire Magazine's America's Best New Restaurants list.
One of the dishes at Chef Mavro are the
lilikoi malasada
A malasada ( pt, malassada, from "'' mal- assada''" = "badly-baked"; similar to filhós), sometimes called "Portuguese fried dough," is a Portuguese confection. It is a fried type of doughnut, made of flattened rounds of yeast dough, flavoured ...
s, or Portuguese donuts, which are served floating in a pool of fuchsia-hued guava coulis with pineapple-coconut ice cream. Mavrothalassitis has tried to remove them from the menu several times but they have always returned by popular demand.
He has made numerous television appearances such as on
CNN, The
Food Channel, the
PBS series ''
Great Chefs in America
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
'', France's Antenne 2, and the
Food Network.
Other ventures
Mavrothalassitis has his own line of organic
Kona coffee
Kona coffee is the market name for coffee ('' Coffea arabica'') cultivated on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the North and South Kona Districts of the Big Island of Hawaii. It is one of the most expensive coffees in the world. Only coff ...
, which can be purchased at Hawaiian supermarkets. He also hosts his own cooking classes.
See also
*
Cuisine of Hawaii
*
Sam Choy
*
Alan Wong
*
Roy Yamaguchi
Roy Yamaguchi (born 1956) is a Japanese-American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and founder of a collection of restaurants, including 30 Roy's Restaurants in the United States and Guam, the Tavern by Roy Yamaguchi and Eating House 1849. He is one ...
*
List of restaurants in Hawaii
References
External links
Chef MavroJames Beard
also se
award link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mavrothalassitis, George
Living people
American restaurateurs
Chefs from Hawaii
Year of birth missing (living people)
French emigrants to the United States
James Beard Foundation Award winners