Nationally recognized
chef, Nikos Ligidakis is a native of Greece. He gained national
acclaim for combining the full tantalizing flavors of the
Mediterranean region with imaginative presentation. Nikos’s
success is credited to the fact that he has created a cuisine that
is once both exotic and familiar.
Nikos’s
love affair with cooking began at an early age. His grandparents owned
a taverna in Kiaton, Greece, which was later passed on to his parents.
He spent much of his childhood watching his parents and cultivating
his imagination for cooking and fanciful uses for ingredients. Nikos
has become a legend locally both for his selfless charitable
involvement and his idiosyncratic style of cooking. He prides himself
on his culinary creativity, use of quality ingredients, freshness,
consistency, and the fact that he prepares everything from scratch.
Nikos has
been lauded in virtually every print publication in the greater
Phoenix area, and in many national ones as well. He has been profiled
numerous times on all of the valley’s television stations and has
received awards for both his cooking and charity work. Most notable of
these was the 1990 Golden Rule Award and the 1995Humanitarian award
from the city of Phoenix.
5024 E.
McDowell, Phoenix, Arizona is the location where Nikos’s original
restaurant was located. It was there where everything began; a little
legendary place where hundreds of recipes were created and endless
heartwarming stories originated.
Nikos’s
story is told frequently; a story about a man with simplistic views of
life, yet holding the complexity of the thoughts running through his
mind. Evidence of this you will find in every page of this book, with
his approach of using simplicity to create complex results, never
compromising on taste. Food experts praised him throughout the
decades, but for Nikos, what is most important, are the people and
their children who have formed a following that resembles a cult.
In this
unique story-cookbook, one will find over 500 original recipes, each
one of them created by this one-of-a-kind chef. The book also contains
the story of a man who refuses to give up or compromise his art.
Nikos’s personal failures and accomplishments are an inspiration to
others who think that their dreams are unattainable.
In his
work, Nikos refuses to follow some of the old, tired cooking methods;
methods that insist there is only one way to prepare a dish. Finding a
simple way to express his art became his challenge.
The only
rule that Nikos has not broken is the final result of the taste, which
is a tribute to his skills, innovative sprit, dedication to freshness
and the use of quality ingredients.
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