SERVING IT UP: Chef Angelos Kallinteris has more than 20 years of experience in Greek cuisine. Right: Amuse-bouche -- shrimps on grilled homemade mini brios bread.
Almaskar in Sheraton Doha is offering some of the best in Greek seafood, courtesy Chef Angelos Kallinteris. By Umer NangianaPutting together flavours of traditional Greek seafood in the most contemporary style, Chef Angelos Kallinteris has created a delectable menu for seafood lovers in the city. Promising to tantalise your taste buds with some never-before experience, the chef from Athens has embellished his new Doha abode with traditional aromas and tastes of a typical Greek seafood kitchen set in a modern-day milieu. It is Almaskar seafood restaurant in the city’s oldest hotel, Sheraton Doha. From octopus served with fave, cured lemon peel, arugula puree, avgotaraho and extra virgin olive oil to salmon cooked at 104F served with pickled beets, red radish and fresh orange fluid gel, the menu offers a variety of Greek seafood. Kallinteris recommends octopus for its tenderness but red snapper is one of his favourites too. The briny fish retains its original taste even after given an avgotaraho crust. Served with leek and lentil stew, pink grapefruit and celeriac puree, this fish carries all three tastes; salty, sour and sweet in it.“First we grind it and then we cook it for a specific time. Then we put it into a solution of salt, sugar and water. This means you are allowing strength to the taste of the fish. It is then shifted to pan and there you have, all three tastes in it,” Kallinteris tells Community in a chat after a special review hosted at Almaskar. Overlooking the Arabian Gulf, the seaside restaurant provides one of the best ambiances for a seafood eatery in town. From the welcome drink of homemade non-alcoholic ginger beer served with homemade warm flavoured nuts to pita bread with a variation of dips and pre-dessert strawberry balsamic gazpacho, compressed fruits, lime sorbet besides Greek yogurt panna cota, honey gel and preserved coum couat, Kallinteris has prepared everything himself. And all of them are his favourites.“Actually whenever I make one dish, it stays as my favourite for a long time. And then the next one comes and it also remains my favourite for a long time and so on. I have been cooking for the last 20 years and I have a book this thick of favourites,” says the chef. “I cannot say a specific one is my favourite. I love them all. I create them all and I put same effort and energy in every one of them. So just enjoy it and tell me what is your favourite,” he adds, addressing his guests, with a smile.At Almaskar, he says, their cooking technique is modern but the structure and the feeling is traditional. The Greek chef says he likes his food healthy. It is contemporary cuisine in a way that all the ingredients are there but the techniques are different. “The techniques and the taste is just like the one my mother or my grandmother used to make. We are putting as much emphasis on the presentation as well. With a bit of tweaking, we enhance the taste further however,” says the Greek chef.Born in the north of Greece, Kallinteris came to Athens with his mother when he was just four. However, he spent most of his holidays with his grandparents on their farmhouse in the village and there he got his first acquaintance with all naturally grown food. “Until I was 18, I did not eat readymade products from the supermarket or meat from the butchery because grandparents were supplying us with all the produce from the village,” says the chef.After finishing school, he signed for the best culinary school in Greece at the time situated in the island of Rodos. He spent two years there, studying in winter and working in hotels in summer as a trainee.During his two years mandatory army service, he was a cook. “I was lucky to spend the last year in the presidential guard of Athens. There I was making special receptions for the president of Greece,” adds the chef.After the army service, he joined Pentelikon Hotel, one of the luxurious boutique hotels in Athens, where he spent six years. The hotel had Vardis restaurant with one Michelin star and Kallinteris spent a lot of time in its kitchen. He then moved to the coast of Athens in a big group of seafood restaurants before moving to Hilton Athens.“For almost three years, I have been taking care of all the outlets as second in command here. Hilton in Athens is a landmark like Sheraton in Doha,” says the chef.From Hilton, Kallinteris went to London, spending six months in Gordon Ramsay’s Maze, a two Michelin star restaurant in Mayfair. He did the round of Latin America twice, aboard Regent Seven Seas Cruises. “In these five years, I travelled almost 80% of the world. I did the round of Latin America twice,” recalls the chef, who is now put in charge of culinary affairs at Almaskar.