TOP
CHEF
Chef Doxis has
worked all over
the world from
Dubai, New
York, Italy, Japan,
Zambia, Zurich
and now Kenya.
For all his prowess in the kitchen (his grilled rump steak and vanilla
pannacotta were sure crowd pleasers), Chef Doxis Bekris may well
be the coolest Taste Chef Of The Year so far.
I bet Doxis Bekris would charm the
pants off Donald Trump. Too soon?
Well, this Group Executive Chef at
the Fairmont Group of Hotels is just
so darn personable! I am looking at
the top of his long hair (because I
am a giant in my high shoes, but also
because he is relatively short) which
is loosely tied into a ponytail as he
leads me through the Pango Kitchen
where a few minutes earlier, there
had been quite the frantic cook-off
for the chef of the year 2015 award.
A cook-off so intense it was like
something out of a Top Chef episode,
only, the air wasn’t punctuated by
the smell of steak on the grill and
Gordon Ramsay shouting expletives.
We initially chat about everything
from the competition to his love
for the gym and water sports like
kitesurfing which take him down to
the coast quite a bit.
Originally from a beautiful Island
called Paros (with its abundance of
fresh fish and seafood) in the south
of Greece, Doxis reveals that like
most chefs, his passion developed
from his mother’s love for cooking
and his consequential love for food.
It is this passion that has for the past
15-20 years seen him work all over
the world in places like Dubai, New
York, Italy, Japan, Zambia, Zurich and
now Kenya where’s he’s currently
been for a year. Seeing as he likes to
explore different cultures and their
culinary traditions, a lot of influences
from his travels translate to his
dishes.
“When I cook, I draw from the
traditions of where I’m based at
the moment and like to use local
ingredients so it resonates with the
people but has this modern twist,”
says Doxis. “In Kenya, the quality of
meat and vegetables is very good.
In fact, when I went back to Greece,
I realized that in the market, all the
green beans and great