Not only does Jim Βοtsacοs attract a great deal of media attention to Mοlyvοs (3 stars from The New York Times, and features in New York, Esquire, Bon Aρρetit and other magazines), but he is also a television cooking personality. In addition to appearances on Martha Stewart Living, The Early Show and The Food Network, Jim appeared on the Today Show while in Greece during the 2004 summer Olympics.
Jim Βοtsacοs' cooking career began at his father's side, fishing and foraging for ingredients every weekend near their suburban New York home. He later enrolled at Johnson & Wales in Rhode Island, the largest culinary institute in the United States, graduating with honours in 1987.
Jim's career has spanned New York's finest restaurants, including seven years at The 21 Club, working with some of New York's finest chefs, including Alain Sailhac, Michael Lοmanacο, Geoffrey Zakarian and Daniel Bruce. As an Executive Chef for ΒR Guest, Jim was responsible for the cuisine and back-of-the-house operations at two of Stephen Hansοn's most popular sites: Park Avalon and Blue Water Grill.
Jim is the founding chef and current chef-partner of Mοlyvοs, which opened to great acclaim in 1997, as well as chef-partner of Abbοccato. Jim has become an important fundraiser for the Greek-American community throughout the Diocese of Boston Philoptochos. He has also published the cookbook titled The New Greek Cuisine.
Chef Βοtsacοs calls upon his life and career experience, together with on-going research and recipe development, to prepare the highest quality, most flavourful Greek food possible. "My approach at Mοlyvοs is to apply my training and classical techniques to the classics of Greek cuisine, without diminishing the recipes' centuries' old authenticity" he says.
Rich stocks, perfect timing and temperature, along with the freshest available ingredients, figure prominently in Chef Βοtsacοs' creative interpretations of Hellenic specialties, including Mοlyvοs' signature lamb yuvetsi, rabbit stifadο, cretan bread salad, and grilled baby octopus.
Jim continues to do his homework with periodic tours of rural kitchens throughout Greece, to keep up on what's new in old Greek traditions.
