Running a successful kitchen is like physics, says the Hilton’s self-professed ‘amateur’ head chef.

TEXT Gabriel Hershman
PHOTOGRAPHY Svetoslav Stoyanov

Greek chef Dimitrios Melemnis has cooked meals for US president George Bush and Greek president Karolos Papoulias but Melemnis is so modest that I have to refer to his official biography for a mention of these illustrious diners.

Through all his success he retains a simple philosophy. “I don’t like too many frills or funky stuff, such as inedible decorations and the like. Appearance only brings in guests once, whereas taste brings them back again and again.”

The Sofia Hilton’s Executive Chef since January, 31-year-old Dimitrios oversees the hotel’s Artists Bar and the Executive Lounge as well as all private events but spends most of his time in The Seasons Restaurant, renowned among Sofians for its international and modern Bulgarian cuisine and popular Sunday Brunch. He has been with the Hilton chain for four-and-a-half years.

Dimitrios comes across as a no-nonsense type of person, particularly well suited to life here. “Bulgaria has a booming and challenging market and its cuisine is really honest. Sofia is like a village compared to Athens, home to my parents, which has six million people. But I feel Bulgaria is the right place for me. I particularly enjoy mountaineering, hiking and fishing.” He has also visited Varna, Plovdiv and Borovets.

He thinks that it is more difficult to work in Greece, owing to their “difficult mentality”.  Dimitrios says that they use more olives and olive oil in Greece and cites natural flavours and local products as his favourite ingredients, enhanced with Mediterranean and modern European trends. He has a particular penchant for good seafood and lamb. “Thankfully, we still have many pure products in Bulgaria. The great danger is that we can get our hands on everything but food starts to lose its natural taste.”

As well as Greece and Bulgaria, he has worked in France, Greece and the UK. He studied at the Anavissos School of Tourism Education in Athens, before winning a culinary scholarship to the Alexandre Dumas School of Tourism Education in Strasbourg. His special qualifications include Kitchen and Restaurant Management in the 21st Century and the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management in Dubai.

Dimitrios’s account of his interest in cooking is perfectly in keeping with his down to earth approach. “I wanted to do something that would give me the opportunity to travel. Perhaps I could have become a professional photographer or the owner of a travel agency. I first became interested in cooking when I was at school. I’d come home to have lunch with my grandparents. I’d try to prepare something a bit more interesting for myself. So you could say it arose out of necessity.”

He is influenced by the French Traiteur style of cooking, a type of catering devoted to take-away food, the equivalent of the UK or US delicatessen, specialising in condiments, cold cuts and pasta. Yet he refuses to name his favourite national cuisine. “The best cooking style is the one we like the most. French food may give us the principles of fine cuisine but otherwise it’s a question of interpretation.”

He eschews artistic pretensions. For him creating art is less important than making people happy. He also refuses to set unrealistic goals for himself or his staff. “You have to be modest and treat yourself as an amateur. Once you master an appropriate technique you can get most dishes done. Individual items, such as a fine pastry, may be about a winning recipe but a good kitchen is like physics. And you often find that the long way of doing things is the sure way. It’s also about learning to live with people on a permanent basis. I don’t see this as a job. For me salary is only a partial motivator; the overall way of life gives me pleasure. It has no beginning or end, a bit like Zen.”

Dimitrios believes that good organisation and management is the key to a successful cuisine. If just one person proves recalcitrant or inept, the whole enterprise can fall apart, irrespective of the top chef’s skills. To avoid any potential pitfalls, Dimitrios, who lives in Lozenets, works a 14-hour day, overseeing the menu planning, recipes, staff management and kitchen supplies - indeed everything connected to the process. 

Dimitrios’s cooking idols are French chefs Joel Robuchon, who operates more than dozen restaurants worldwide and Alain Ducasse, the head of the Jules Verne Restaurant at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. He also cites volatile British chef Gordon Ramsey, a celebrity who needs no further introduction. But I can’t imagine the softly spoken Dimitrios swearing at his employees. For Dimitrios, you see, cooking is more science than theatre.

Pork tenderloin with Teriyaki sauce on sesame-spinach Mien noodles.

Ingredients
Pork fillet
Serves 4
600 g    Pork fillet

Spinach noodles
200 g    Mien-Noodles
100 g    fresh spinach
2 tbsp    sesame oil
2 tbsp    sesame seed
1 tsp    red chilli peppers, finely diced
1 tsp    garlic, finely diced

Teriyaki Sauce
100 ml    sake
100 ml    mirin
100 ml    dark soy sauce
5 tsp    brown sugar
5 tsp    ginger juice


Preparation
Put all the ingredients for the sauce in a pot and bring to boil. Boil over medium heat until the moment that we will have a syrup like sauce. Boil the Mien noodles for 4 minutes in salty water. Mix them with vegetable oil and keep them separately.

Pan fry or grill the pork fillet, without cutting it, in order to keep it as juicy as possible.

In a wok or pan, sautй the garlic paste, the red chilli peppers and the sesame seeds. Add the Mien noodles and the spinach. At the last moment stir in sesame oil.

Cut the tenderloin into 3 equal pieces and serve it with the spinach-sesame Mien noodles.
Dress with Teriyaki sauce atop of the pork tenderloin and serve.