Multi-award-winning chef Chronis Damalas began his career in 1998 following his graduation from the Culinary Institute of America – an elite cookery school based in New York. Since then, he has practiced his art in many acclaimed restaurants of international repute in various places like New York, France, Spain, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, and Iceland. In Greece, he has worked alongside distinguished culinary masters in restaurants such as Varoulko, no. 48, and Simply Left Right (Apla Aristera Dexia). Since 2007, he has been a chef at GASPAR, Sea You Up, and Electra Roof Garden.
Today, Chronis is the Executive Chef at the hotel Cavo Tagoo in Mykonos and of KIKU, a Japanese restaurant chain.
Chronis has an enduring love of the sea because of his familial connections to the island of Chios and the seaside town of Aigio. He spent many hours of his childhood in the sea – he sees the water as an extension of his own body and has always felt at home with the oceans.
As a chef, Chronis knows that the cleanliness of the ocean is very important to what he does with food. For instance, rubbish that ends up in the sea does not simply disappear, but rather breaks up into tiny pieces that frequently end up being eaten by various species of marine life. Plastic in the ocean contains toxic chemicals and can have dire consequences for organisms who consume them; the consumption of this contaminated seafood consequently affects human health.
Chronis has made his promise for Clean Seas:
“I promise to avoid using plastic packaging because it’s harmful to marine life. It means a lot to me to be able to make dishes of the highest nutritional value and the best possible quality – nothing less. Will you join me?”