Born and raised in Athens, a city full of history and art, from a very young age Asimakis Chaniotis Executive Chef at Pied à Terre in London was very interested and involved in street art. Whilst his interest in food started to become a dream of a career, art really inspired him and helped him develop as a young commis chef in the kitchens he began to work in. He has worked in a variety of kitchens from hotels to restaurants to British pubs and from fine dining to banquets and exhibition centres, He was even a private chef on a yacht.
But nothing made Chef Asimakis as passionate about cooking as fine dining and French cuisine, the precision, the creativity, the artistry, all had him hooked. He always craved perfection and finding the freshest and best produce is especially important to him, he says he always wants to know where he can find them and how he can pair them together.
Alongside learning new techniques and learning about wine, he has pushed himself to try and create an unforgettable experience for his customers. This hunt for perfection and attention to detail, as well as the rush and adrenaline he gets whilst trying to raise the standards in the kitchen, have made him the chef he is today.
From 2012 till 2016 he worked at Pied a Terre restaurant as a sous chef. In mid 2016 he decided to go to New York and got a job at Thomas Keller’s PER SE but when he came back from his trial he took over as Chef de cuisine of L’Autre Pied Restaurant. After working for 6 months at L’autre Pied he was appointed as the Executive chef at Pied a Terre !
He has been awarded his first Michelin star in the year 2018 at the age of 28 and is the first youngest Greek chef to be ever awarded a Michelin star out of his country in London. In February 2019 along with David Moore he launched #cook_love a street food concept with refined touches named after the tattoos on his fingers and his love for cooking which was successful and now he is looking for a site to relaunch soon when the right opportunity comes his way.
In June 17th 2019 he was awarded with an Acorn award from Caterer for 30 under 30 for the most successful people in the hospitality industry in the UK under their 30s. In November he launched an amazingly unique concept called Chef’s table by Asimakis at Pied a Terre restaurant where he personally cooked in front of 8 guests. He created a menu that may vary from 16-22 courses depending on ingredients and seasonality, a concept made based on a collaboration with Martin Moore kitchens and Gaggenau UK where Chef Asimakis and his team created a luxurious space of a domestic kitchen where he cooked and plated everything in front of the guests.
In 2020 he was given the Argo award from the President of Hellenic Republic for the most influential Greek who exceeded in Culinary Arts abroad. In the year 2024 Chef Asimakis was awarded the Greek excellence award from the Hellenic institute of customer service.
Do you have a favourite time of the year or set of ingredients that you look forward to working with?
What would you do if you weren’t a chef?
If i was not a chef i would love to have a winery, i started making wine 3 years ago at my cottage in Kefallonia and the craft of making wine is amazing as well as a lot of fun.
Do your personal preferences influence the menu at all?
I am trying a lot not to be biased or negatively influence my menus. For example i personally massively dislike the texture and flavour of cooked spinach but i know for certain from my 15 years of experience that people love it so it finds its place on my menu quite often actually.
What do you think is the most over-hyped food trend currently?
Tuilles and crisps, they certainly make a plate look amazing and instagramable but so many guests would not even try eating them. I use them too and i love making them and try to get my guests to eat everything on the plate.
When are you happiest?
Always when on holidays in my cottage In Kefallonia, wandering around the graphic scenery of Fiskardo, having dinners by the sea and also while watching the most beautiful sunsets in Myrtos beach.
When you’re not in the kitchen where can you be found?
Probably at Ace cafe, the most famous motorcycle cafe in London, or riding my bicycle at Alexandra palace where i live.
Where is your favourite place to dine?
Japanese food especially sushi is my favorite takeaway but comfort food will always be a nice bowl of pasta carbonara.
What makes the local food scene so exciting?
The most exciting thing about London’s food scene is the challenge of so many amazing restaurants, you can find anything and everything, British, Italian, Greek, Japanese, French, Indian,Caribbean, fine dining, casual dining, street food, food markets whatever you desire is there for the taking.
Which is the dish you’ve created that you are most proud of and why?
All my creations hold a very special place in my heart, but if i have to choose one that would be the ‘Lonian Sea’ a dish that is made with a very Greek recipe of marinated sardines, a humble, not expensive but a very tasty ingredient, and all the other ingredients on the dish represent the sea, it’s surroundings, the seabed, the algae etc.
You’re having friends over for dinner tonight. What’s on the table?
Table service Tiramisu
Name your favourite city that has it all: food, culture, and nightlife.
Cod Skordalia
This dish is served all year round in Greece but it’s tradition to serve it especially on March 25th where the Greek Independence Day from the Ottoman Empire is celebrated. Bakaliaro is salted cod fish that we traditionally beer batter and Skordalia is a garlic aioli, most often made with bread or potato. Traditionally, salt cod is used for this dish and at least one full day of preparation is needed where the salted cod is soaked in several water baths to extract the salt. Based on this dish i made a version where it reminds me of my tradition but at the same time brings the fine dining element at Pied a Terre restaurant.
Ingredients:
To brine the cod:
- Side of very fresh cod approximately 1kg (20 portions) filleted and skinned.
- 2lt of cold water
- 200g of table salt
- Mix the cold water and salt till salt is all dissolved.
- Then add in the cod fillet and keep in for 15 minutes.
- Then take off and pat dry well. Let it sit in the fridge for an hour till you slice it very thin.
Confit garlic paste:
- 150g peeled garlic cloves
- 400g olive oil
- 5g salt
In a medium pan mix all ingredients together and on high speed bring to bubbling point. Reduce heat to low and keep cooking for an hour. Take the pan off the heat and cool down. Then strain 300g of garlic oil and set aside for later and blend the garlic with 100g of the rest olive oil till you got a smooth paste.Pass through a sieve and keep in an airtight container till needed.
- 1 shallot sliced thinly and only rings with 1cm diameter kept
- 100ml milk
- 50g corn flour
- Salt for seasoning
- 200g of veg oil
Slice the shallots and keep only the desired rings. Keep in milk overnight to make them less aggressive in flavour. Next day strain the milk well and season them with salt. Dust them with corn flour and shake them well in a tamis sieve to get rid of excess flour. Deep fry at 150c so they take more time to colour ans crisp up properly. Place on a paper to get rid of excess oil and reseason.
Dill oil:
- 150g dill
- 200g of extra virgin olive oil
Blend in a high speed blender till temperature rises because of friction and splits the fat and dill solids.Pass through a muslin cloth overnight and add the oil in a squeeze bottle.
Skordalia
- 1kg soft boiled potatoes
- 200g confit garlic olive oil
- 100g confit garlic paste
- 300g cold water
- 50g fresh lemon juice
- 9g table salt
When the potatoes are boiled, hot and soft put them in the thermomix and start blending at speed 4 and gradually start adding the olive oil, garlic paste, salt and last cold water. Then turn the thermomix on speed 8 till it’s a smooth puree and last add the salt. Pass through a fine sieve and keep in squeeze bottles in the fridge for max of 2 days.
For plating:
- Thinly sliced cod on parchment paper
- Zest of a lemon
- Juice of a lemon
- 20g of extra virgin olive oil
- Maldon salt for seasoning
- 5g caviar
Start by marinating the cod slices with olive oil to follow by lemon zest, then lemon juice and tap with a pastry brush to spread evenly. Then follow by maldon salt. Then in a bowl add the Skordalia in the bottom and cover it with a few slices of the marinated cod just so it’s completely covered. Then a ball shaped like caviar on top and on top of the caviar add 3 shallot rings. Finish with parsley cress around the caviar and dill oil around the edge of the sliced cod and serve immediately.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
