From cooking food at the White House to creating fresh meals for clients, Greek chef has 'amazing' journey
Greek immigrant's success story includes meal delivery service and fresh pasta line
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Elsie Castelblanco doesn't need a calendar to know what day of the week it is when chef Christos Bisiotis shows up at her Brickell Key apartment in Florida.
Like clockwork, the Greek-born chef arrives every Monday at 11 a.m. with a week's worth of prepared meals for her, she told Fox News Digital.
Bisiotis' trip from his work kitchen in Coral Springs, Florida, to Castelblanco's home in Miami is long — about 50 miles away — but it's nothing compared to the journey that's taken him from his native Greece to New York City and Washington, D.C., across the country to California and back again before settling in South Florida.
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Bisiotis left his home in Athens in 2007 and arrived in New York City on Christmas "knowing no one."
After spending his first night sleeping in Astoria Park, he soon found a job working for the late George Stergiopoulos, owner of Christos Steak House. From there, it was on to jobs at the Edison Ballroom and Eataly NYC Flatiron.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Christos Bisiotis is pictured during his early days as a chef in New York City. He worked in the kitchen at Christos Steak House, the Edison Ballroom and, as seen here, Eataly NYC Flatiron. (Christos Bisiotis)
"I was just able to move forward with my career," Bisiotis told Fox News Digital in a Zoom video interview.
"And the opportunities that I was given here in the United States — I don't think that I would have the chance anywhere else in the world."
‘Fresh pasta from scratch’
While honing his craft in New York City, Bisiotis was presented with an opportunity to cook at the White House under then-President Obama in 2013.
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It came about when Bisiotis was working a charity event at Liberty State Park in New Jersey, where former President Clinton was in attendance.
Bisiotis said Clinton was tasting the food from the vendors there and "loved" what he was served.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Christos Bisiotis, pictured here working in his home kitchen in Coral Springs, Florida, met former President Bill Clinton (shown, inset) during a charity event in New Jersey in 2013. (Christos Bisiotis; Peter Burke/Fox News Digital)
That led, said Bisiotis, to his becoming the first and youngest Greek chef to cook at the White House.
His first visit was as a guest of the White House executive chef.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Soon, though, Bisiotis started getting "more and more" calls "to go in and cook" during the Obama administration, he said, and "educating the people in the kitchen about making fresh pasta from scratch."
"It was an amazing experience," Bisiotis said.
Christos Bisiotis became the first Greek chef to cook at the White House while a guest there in 2013. He's seen at left holding a Greek dish that he prepared and, right, posing for a photo with the White House kitchen staff. (Christos Bisiotis)
During his time in Washington, D.C., he also got to cook for the annual Congress dinner.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Greek chef to the stars
In 2014, he got his first taste of the Florida sunshine when he helped launch the Locale Market food hall in St. Petersburg.
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After returning to New York as executive chef at Avra Madison, Bisiotis left again in 2018 to help launch Avra Beverly Hills, its first West Coast location.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}That's where he got to cook for celebrities such as Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, actor Leonardo DiCaprio and comedian Conan O'Brien.
Christos Bisiotis helped run the kitchen at Avra Beverly Hills, right, where he met celebrities such as Conan O'Brien, shown with Bisiotis at left. (Christos Bisiotis)
"I had an amazing time," he said of his stint in Beverly Hills.
But the dream of opening his own restaurant lured him back to New York in 2019. It was a dream unfulfilled.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}'Little bit of a break'
Egéo, which had been slated for a March 2020 soft launch, was shuttered before it even opened, squashed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I think COVID made people wake up a little bit and figure out their own ways," Bisiotis said. "And that's what I did as well."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}With his dream dashed, Bisiotis left New York for the last time in 2020 and returned to Florida.
"My last job back in New York, I had a 100-[person] brigade in the kitchen," Bisiotis recalled. "So, you have to understand, walking into such an operation on a daily basis, [if] you have 100 people, you have to face 100 different problems … I was doing it for 22 years. You know, you need a little bit of a break."
Unique pink pasta
In Florida, he reignited his passion for pasta, creating his own line that is set to launch soon, he said. Called Bellita Pasta, it is inspired by his daughter, Anne Bella, whose photo graces the logo, and includes a unique pink pasta.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bellita Pasta is the soon-to-be-launched pasta line of chef Christos Bisiotis, who has his hand in everything from pink pasta to squid ink hilopites. (Peter Burke)
In the meantime, he's also taken on a new career endeavor, preparing and delivering meals for residents from Palm Beach County to Miami.
Castelblanco, a 73-year-old "semi-retired" real estate agent originally from Colombia, told Fox News Digital that she enjoys receiving her weekly meals from Bisiotis.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It was Castelblanco's daughter who first encouraged her to consider home meal deliveries.
"She was very concerned that I was not cooking enough and that I was not eating well," Castelblanco said.
Christos Bisiotis cooks a meal from his home kitchen in Coral Springs, Florida. One of his clients, Miami resident Elsie Castelblanco, at right, shows off the meals he prepared for her. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital; Christos Bisiotis)
Castelblanco called finding Bisiotis a "blessing" and said he's an "amazing chef."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He is very humble and has a wonderful, positive energy," she added.
"Everything is very well presented and delicious."
Although always punctual, Castelblanco said, this week he wasn't. But it was for a good reason.
His wife gave birth to a baby boy, Andonios, on July 19, the same day he turned 36.
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Instead, Bisiotis showed up a day later than usual, with his usual care for the quality of her mealsm, she said. Among the meals Bisiotis delivered this week was his "astonishing" Greek salad and shrimp with hilopites.
"I feel, when I'm eating my lunch and my dinners, that I'm in one of these beautiful restaurants in Greece or here in Miami, because everything is very well presented and delicious," Castelblanco said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Christos Bisiotis takes a photograph with Elsie Castelblanco, showing off some of the food he makes for her each week from his home kitchen. (Christos Bisiotis; Peter Burke/Fox News Digital)
The only meal she hasn't enjoyed is the chicken. "So, he doesn't bring me chicken anymore," she said.
Castelblanco said she rarely goes out to eat these days, but she doesn't miss it. That's because Bisiotis uses "100% fresh" ingredients.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I don't feel like I want to go anywhere," she said.
But if Bisiotis one day does finally get around to opening his own restaurant, she'll be there. "I'll be their first client," she said.
Squid ink hilopites with shrimp and ouzo: Try the recipe
Bisiotis shared his recipe with Fox News Digital for squid ink hilopites with shrimp and ouzo.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ingredients
2 cups squid ink hilopites from Bellita Pasta line
7 shrimp (cut in small pieces) (8-12 count)
10 cherry heirloom tomatoes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}½ cup crushed tomatoes
½ cup white onion (minced)
2 cloves garlic
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2 tablespoons dill (chopped)
3 tablespoons kefalograviera cheese
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}3 tablespoons kosher salt
Extra virgin olive oil
The chef's hand is seen reaching into a bowl for squid ink hilopites from his Bellita Pasta line. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital)
Directions
1. In a small pan, add the cherry heirloom tomatoes with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and salt and cook them in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes. When ready, set aside and reserve all the juices.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}2. In a medium-sized pot, bring boiling water and add the kosher salt. Drop in the squid ink hilopites and cook for 9 minutes. Reserve at the end 4 tablespoons of the pasta water.
3. In a medium sauté pan and over medium heat, add the extra virgin oil and add the white onion and zest the garlic. Add the shrimp and the cherry tomatoes.
Chef Bisiotis prepared this dish of squid ink hilopites with shrimp and ouzo. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital)
4. Add the ouzo and let the alcohol go away for 20 seconds, then add the crushed tomatoes and the chopped dill.
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5. As a last step, add the hilopites into the sauce, along with the 4 tablespoons of the pasta water that were reserved. In a minute, the food will be ready to eat.
6. Don't forget to grate some nice kefalograviera cheese on top of it at the end.