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www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I JULY 2018 41
years of experience in the industry, including
his nearly four months at Akrotiri.
One reason the chef gave for wanting
to participate in "Chopped" was to push
his limits and see what he could produce
with ingredients given to him on the spot.
"It's a difficult show, and I understood
how difficult it is, but I felt I needed to see
my power," he said.
The chef said also wanted to test his Eng-lish
skills, in addition to testing his culinary
prowess. Poulmentis recalls being afraid he
would not be accepted because "everyone
was speaking fluent English" on the show's
set. He added that the show would be "big
exposure" for himself and the restaurant
whether or not he won.
"It was a beautiful process. I'm grate-ful
that I had the ability to do the show,"
Poulmentis said.
Poulmentis and Chris Kouvaros opened
Akrotiri Seafood Taverna back in March.
"Akrotiri" comes from an ancient Greek city
on Santorini that was buried in volcanic ash.
The restaurant's menu features "inventive
riffs on classic Greek fare" including Htapo-dokeftedes,
which are breadless octopus
croquettes with parsley sauce and seared
scallops with squid ink linguine pasta in a
white saffron emulsion known as Htenia.
They also offer natural wines from using in-digenous
grapes from various Greek regions.
Poulmentis mentioned that the entree
that he made on the show will also be
served in his restaurant as a special after
the episode airs, and will be announced on
the restaurant's website.
Go to watch.foodnetwork.com/show/cq/
chopped/4646233/lamb-slam/ to watch
the "Chopped" episode online.
Courtesy of Akrotiri
/www.qns.com
