These accolades, however, meant that the team could not rest on its laurels. Chef Hiliadaki worked with a big research and development team to come up with new ideas. There were multiple ways of creating new items. Sometimes it was based on seasonal ingredients. “For example, cauliflowers,” she says. “Okay, what could we do with cauliflowers? Should we braise them? Should we make a stock out of it? Or should we make a juice?” Other times, she began with an illusion. An example would be the aforementioned Greek salad. Or consider the “soft-boiled egg”—which, while it certainly looked like one, tasted anything but. Its shell was made from chocolate, with coconut ice cream substituted for egg whites and mango puree standing in for the yolk. Diners would take the “bread” (a piece of vanilla cake) and dip it into the “egg.” It was a perfect illusion. “We would serve this dish as the first dessert after the main courses, so [some people] didn’t know it was a dessert,” she recalls. “And there was even a guest who said ‘no, I don’t want a boiled egg right now. I don’t want to eat it; take it away from me.’ Her friends started eating, and they realized that it was a dessert, so she said okay, bring it back.” Chef Hiliadaki takes inspiration from everything. She even used the feeling of nostalgia to create a picnic course that served a host of small delicacies on a picnic stage—including the picnic tablecloth—on the table. As Funky Gourmet became more successful, investors started getting in touch, suggesting
they open restaurants in England. So, in 2014, they opened OPSO. And its success eventually led to PittaBun and Ino, all located in London, but with different setups and approaches. OPSO, which means “delicacy” in ancient Greek, seats 150 and serves brunch all the way to dinner. INO, meaning “wine” in modern Greek, is a small Greek tapas place where diners eat food cooked over an open flame and charcoal by the counter. It serves only Greek wines that can be ordered by the glass. Last, PittaBun is a street food concept, selling souvlaki and other elevated items, where the pita bread is brought from Greece using an in-house recipe.
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