70 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • OCTOBER 25, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Astoria chef seeks another serving of ‘Chopped’ glory
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
adomenech@qns.com
@AODNewz
Astoria chef and “Chopped” season 39
winner Nicholas Poulmentis returned to
the small screen to battle fellow top chefs
during a special “Chopped Champions
Th rowdown” on Oct. 23.
“Chopped Champions Th rowdown”
will follow the style of “Chopped,” where
four chefs must use their culinary wit
to create a three-course meal only using
the ingredients found in a sinister brown
paper bag. Contestants are given the bag
at the beginning of the show and ingredients
can be anything from rice to reindeer
paté.
Aft er the cooking and cursing is done, a
panel of celebrity judges tastes each chef’s
meal, course by course, “chopping” the
chef with the weakest dish until only one
is left standing in the kitchen. Th e winner
earns bragging rights and $10,000.
“Everything is bigger and better now,”
said Poulmentis, whose bustling restaurant,
Akrotiri Seafood Taverna, routinely
serves 60 to 70 diners on any given day.
He is also the owner of Cengo, a hotel and
restaurant in his native Kythira, Greece.
According to the chef, the heat in the
Chopped kitchen gave him the confi -
dence to trust his cooking instincts and
challenged him to think outside of the
box. He is now at a new level in his culinary
career.
Born in New York but raised on
the island of Kythira in Greece,
Poulmentis took to the kitchen at a
young age and attended the Anavysos
culinary school before studying at Le
Cordon Bleu in Paris. After finishing
his studies, Poulmentis jumped
into the New York City culinary scene
Photo via twitter.com/Poulme1Nicholas
incorporating his Greek-sea-side heritage
and French education — both of
which he utilized during his time on
“Chopped.”
Queens College prez receives Hispanic heritage honors from DA
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@cnglocal.com
@QNS
Queens District Attorney Richard A.
Brown named Queens College president
Felix Matos Rodriguez as the recipient
of the District Attorney’s 2018 Hispanic
Heritage Award for his tireless commitment
to advancing Latin America culture
as both an educator and as a public servant
in Puerto Rico, where his eff orts consisted
of serving as a vital member of the
country’s government.
Th e award was presented to Matos
Rodriguez on Oct. 19 during a reception
in Brown’s Kew Gardens offi ce as part
of National Hispanic Heritage Month,
an annual celebration of the rich culture
and heritage of the Hispanic and Latino
communities.
“Dr. Matos Rodriguez currently
serves as the 10th president of Queens
College and former president of Hostos
Community College,” Brown said.
“Th ese accomplishments have given him
the rare distinction of being one of a
select group of educators in the nation
to have served as both the head of a
baccalaureate and community college
institution. Not only is President Matos
Rodriguez heralded for his work in academia
— most recently for his work to
improve Hostos College’s academic and
fi nancial reputations — but he is also
lauded for his work to advance the infl uence
the lives of Hispanic Americans
through his extensive public service initiatives.”
Matos Rodriguez earned his graduate
degree in Latin American Studies
from Yale University and a Ph.D. in
History from Columbia University and
has not let his drive to better himself
impede his goal of enriching the
lives of those who matter most, his students.
Th rough his work in the classroom
and from gracing the halls of some
prestigious colleges and universities —
such as Hunter College, Northeastern
University, Boston University, the
Universidad Interamericana — Recinto
Metro, City College, and lastly his alma
mater Yale University — the Puerto
Rican-born educator has impressed
upon college students the importance of
exploring their own diverse heritages in
greater detail.
Th e San Juan native’s commitment
to excellence extends far beyond the
four walls of the classroom and into the
fi eld of research, where he served as the
Program Offi cer for the Social Science
Research Council and the Director for
the Center of Puerto Rican Studies at
Hunter College and he is a member of
the Council on Foreign Relations. Matos
Rodriguez’s expertise in academia, policy
and foreign aff airs are renowned
and sought aft er not just in Queens but
worldwide, according to Brown.
“Our Latino population here in Queens
represents 28 percent of our 2.3 million
residents,” Brown said. “It is a population
of great cultural signifi cance to the fabric
of our society, but more importantly to
the various communities they call home
within our borough.”
National Hispanic Heritage Month
started off as a weeklong celebration in
1968 and the observance was expanded to
a month-long celebration in 1988.
Nicholas Poulmentis appeared on Food Network’s “Chopped.”
Photo courtesy of Queens District Attorney’s offi ce
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown presented Queens College President Felix Matos
Rodriguez with his offi ce’s Hispanic Heritage Award for 2018.
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