// CHEFCETERA
UP CLOSE WITH METRO NEW YORK'S CHEFS
Jonathan Kavourakis Chef de Cuisine at the Stanton Social Chef Jonathan Kavourakis is the Chef de Cuisine at the lower east side’s sexiest restaurant and lounge, The Stanton Social. Hailing from Livingston, NJ, Chef Jonathan was born to cook.
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onathan grew up in restaurants and diners, spending every spare moment from childhood through his teens assisting his father in preparing baked goods for several restaurants in his hometown. Jonathan attended both Towson University in Baltimore and later the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan. Chef Jonathan’s mantra is "No one in my kitchen will work more than me. No one in my kitchen will work harder than me." Jonathan is known in the Beauty/ Stanton family as a chef who will get his hands dirty. In the 4 years since he completed culinary school Jonathan has worked in such acclaimed kitchens as Danielle's Feast and Fette and Commerce in various line and prep positions and served as the Sous Chef at Beauty and Essex prior to his latest move to Stanton. Total Food recently chatted with Chef Jonathan in this month’s Chefcetera. What influenced you to start a career in foodservice? Where did you study? I don’t know if it was any one person in particular who influenced me to start my career in the food service industry, or if it was my surroundings growing up that inspired me to get into the business. My father was a baker, so I
grew up working in Diners, and just loved the atmosphere and loved the people. I studied at The Broadway Diner in Baltimore, Maryland for 5 years. I learned everything about restaurants there both front and back of house. I then moved back to NYC and attended the Culinary Institute of Education. Has working in NYC helped you achieve a full scope of culinary skills?
NYC is amazing, and has definitely helped me rise in the ranks a lot faster than maybe other chefs and cooks have. NYC is kill or be killed. If you aren’t gunning for your superior’s job you are in the wrong city. You need to hustle to make it here, and you need to be ambitious and want to grow. There is so much talent and so many people gunning for the same job. If you want to land it, you don’t always necessarily need to be better than the
Chef Jonathan Kavourakis is the Chef de Cuisine at the lower east side’s sexiest restaurant and lounge, The Stanton Social. Hailing from Livingston, NJ, Chef Jonathan was born to cook.
30 • February 2014 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com
other person, but you need to work harder, and always be willing to do the things maybe other people wouldn’t want to do. Working in NYC made me work harder, and helped mold me into the chef I am now because of all that. You competed and won on Season 2 of The Food Network’s 24-Hour Restaurant Battle. How do you get involved and how has that experience helped your career? I was scrolling through craigslist looking at all the job postings and saw an ad for the show. I called my brother (Alexi) in the room (who I live with), and said we could definitely rock this show. My brother grew up working FOH in the diners, and knows his stuff. We sent in our application, and were called in for an interview. Gave them our background, and our vision of opening up a diner, and the producers liked it. It was a great experience and was a lot harder than it looked. I don’t really think it helped my career all that much, but it was nice to get a little exposure and be in front of a camera. Besides being located in a trendy area of Manhattan, The Stanton Social has become a celebrity hot spot as well as a favorite for local artists and hipsters. What spin do you put on your dishes that make The Stanton Social so alluring to them? The Stanton Social, and Chef Chris Santos have been putting spins on dishes well before I came to make the restaurant what it is today. I’m trying to keep the trend going, and keep us running strong in that department. Stanton has such a great vibe, and is a fun place to eat with delicious food. What separates us from other restaurants is that we make things that can be very easily shared, and we try and make sexy intimate food. At the end of the day, if the ladies love it the guys are