Erik Cosselmon

The Climb

Professional kitchen discipline is built through repetition under service pressure. Erik Cosselmon’s first restaurant job at Tavern on the Green in New York City put that pace in place early. A stage at La Bonne Auberge in Moustiers, France, and a job at Le Bernardin added exposure to kitchens where timing, knife work, heat, and polish have to function together. Contemporary Greek cooking became a defined public language in Kokkari: Contemporary Greek Flavors, which Erik Cosselmon authored in 2011. The framework is structural rather than decorative: brightness, grilled flavor, shared plates, and a small set of vivid ingredients doing the work. The current post is Executive Chef of Kokkari Estiatorio.

Today

The kitchen’s clarity depends on pristine vegetables, simply grilled fish and meats, and precise seasoning. Bright flavors, herbaceous notes, and frequent pops of lemon juice lift the food without crowding it. Smoke, salt, olive oil, herbs, citrus, and heat are kept distinct enough that the plate reads cleanly. Greek-inspired fine dining and Contemporary Greek Flavors define the specialty. The table format favors appetite and exchange: grilled octopus, grilled feta-stuffed calamari, rotisserie items, moussaka, grilled lamb chops with lemon oregano vinaigrette, and whole grilled fish. These preparations suit family-style service, where strong flavors can be passed, compared, and revisited. Whole fish is a central piece of the work at Kokkari Estiatorio. Each night, diners choose among three fish that can be roasted in the wood oven or grilled. Another preparation sends the fish to the grill with lemon, or into the wood oven with tomatoes and olives. The method stays close to the product: fire, clean richness, acid, and herbs. The rotisserie gives the room a second anchor. Slow-turning meat, browned by heat and carried by aroma, shows the value of patience and controlled exposure rather than complication.

Signature

Signature dishes include whole fish and rotisserie meats.

In Their Words “I like lots of little hits of strong flavors, offering the diner a choice of tastes and family-style service. It’s how I like to eat and cook.” “He taught me how to make omelets and how to use a knife.”