Christos Athanasiadis, co-owner and Executive Chef of Nice n Easy unfolds his culinary narrative by investing in eco footprint of nutrition.
The ‘Nice n easy’ restaurant group remains the pioneer in the healthy-gourmet category in Greece since 2008, when it opened the first “nice n easy” restaurant in Athens, with a name inspired by Frank Sinatra’s legendary song.
At the ‘Nice n easy’ group, they listen to the needs of each era and act with attention. As sustainability and wellness pioneers, they continue to break new ground, support and empower sustainable living for a quality, healthy and balanced life for all.
H.A: How it all started for Nice n Easy group?
Christos Athanasiadis: We embarked on our culinary journey in 2008 in Kolonaki realising the gap that was evident in eco food.Μy business partner, Dimitris Christoforidis and I decided to take the plunge going through many financial difficulties as well. At that time, Greek public was unable to properly evaluate what we offered. Our motto was “if you don’t like what we offer, you don’t have to pay for it”.
Traveling all over Greece in search of the best in quality products while at the same time the financial crisis was escalating, we achieved the goals we had set. Subsequently, striving for the best, we managed to acquire a large market share in catering and entertainment sector by building solid partnerships both in Greece and abroad.
H.A: What are the characteristics of eco food?
Christos Athanasiadis: It’s all about philosophy. For instance, we use exclusively Greek olive oil and smooth butter for sautéing. In addition, we emphasise on both seasonality and locality of the raw materials we are supplied by regularly changing our menus.
For example, our traditional burger is made of ground buffalo meat with free range buffalo while the salmon dish is replaced with the healthier trout. Constantly traveling throughout Greece and maintaining direct partnerships with local producers, we avoid middlemen achieving the best quality of raw materials at competitive prices. It would be a great omission not to refer to the fact that we grow our own seeds, native varieties so that our products remain unspoiled.
All our businesses interiors are lit with LEDs and our cleaning products are environmentally friendly. We have formed a collaboration with the network Refill Greece and all our restaurants are water stations refill. We have also chosen eco-friendly packaging eliminating plastic many years ago!
H.A: What are the Nice n Easy Group selection criteria?
Christos Athanasiadis: Definitely the high quality and the excellent bio ingredients depending on the relationship of quality and price, the so-called value for money.
H.A: In your opinion, what characterises a good Chef?
Christos Athanasiadis: Respect for raw materials, Zero Way and of course resourcefulness.
H.A: How would you evaluate the level of gastronomy in Greece?
Christos Athanasiadis: The level of our country’s culinary scene is very sophisticated with many steps heading to the right direction. The last 2-3 generations are moving upwards. Greece is and we all have to contribute to it so that it remains high on a global scale a culinary tourist attraction.
H.A: What do you advise young people who wish to pursue a career in culinary arts?
Christos Athanasiadis: To have passion, love, patience and retrospect always bearing in mind that they need to fully understand and preserve their roots and tradition before they decide to evolve.
H.A: What are the next business plans of Nice n Easy Group?
Christos Athanasiadis: To preserve what we have already as it’s quite easy to ascend, but hard enough to sustain the pace. Of course, not to tamper our features. Our goal is to continue to expand our collaborations in other countries abroad while promoting the culinary wealth of our country.
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