Νε α σ υ λ λ ο γ ο υ
FRANGADAKIS CUISINE FEATURED
AT WHITE HOUSE
GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY DINNER
For the past 27 years, the Greeks have been celebrating Greek Independence Day at the White House. The
event was started by fellow Cretan Andy Manatos.
Left to right: Judy Marcus, Ken Frangadakis, Erik Coddelmon,
Angie Frangadakis and George Marcus.
This year, he and his son Mike were instrumental
in getting the chefs from Ikaros members Dr. Ken
and Angie Frangadakis’ Kokkari Restaurant in San
Francisco and Evvia Estiatorio in Palo Alto to prepare
the meal. It was a once-in-a-lifetime honor for the
Frangadakis family.
Dr. Ken and Angie, along with their partners George
and Judy Marcus, brought their team of managing General Partner Paul Kirby, his wife Robin and
their daughter, Kokkari’s Chef Erik Cosselmon and
his son, and Evvia’s Chef Mario Ortega to the White
House on Tuesday to begin preparation with the White
House Chef and staff. “We shipped back 200 pounds
of octopus as there are no food deliveries at the White
House,” Ken explained. “They provided mesquite grills
to prepare our lamb chops and Steve Padis provided
the Padis Vineyards Chardonnay and Cabernet wines
to accompany the meal.” The menu also included Kokkari’s famous Baklava.
The Bay Area contingent of 13 flew to Washington,
D.C. in George Marcus’s plane and included fellow Cretan and KRON 4 Anchor Vicki Liviakis, who reported
live from the event, and fellow Cretan and Elios Society
President, Tony Saris, and his wife Betty.
“George and I were very proud Greek men, proud of
our Greek heritage and proud of our cuisine, and
grateful to share our cuisine with President Obama,
Vice President Biden, Archbishop Demetrios and
other Greek dignitaries and guests, and the White
House Staff,” Ken told me. Other prominent dignitaries attending the event included former Ambassador
to Hungary Eleni Tsakoupoulos and her husband
Markos Kounalakis. The event also had many
Cretans in attendance.
After the reception, they were told that the food and
wines were delivered to the President’s private residence. Dr. Ken and Angie are most proud of their restaurant personnel, from both Evvia and Kokkari, for
being recognized as two of the finest Hellenic restaurants in the world.
We at Ikaros also are proud of what Dr. Ken and
Angie have accomplished. If you’ve ever wondered
what it would be like to have food like they prepare at
the White House just come to the Greek Festival at San
Jose’s St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church the weekend of May 30 to June 1, where Ken and Angie will
once again have their Evvia booth with Chef Orgeta
preparing dinners.
If you’d like to try some of the same recipes yourself,
you can get Chef Cosselmon’s book, “Kokkari: Contemporary Greek Flavors” on Amazon.com.
Chapter News
ikaros san jose, california
ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL EASTER PICNIC
This Easter, Ikaros again sponsored the annual
Greek Easter Picnic in San Jose. This was the 42nd
year that Ikaros has hosted this event, which was
held at Saratoga Springs in the hills above Saratoga,
California. Several hundred Greeks filled the park this
Left to right: Stamis Cocoles, Ted Cocoles and Jim Chiochios.
KPHTH | WWW.PANCRETAN.ORG
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