TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. — Hella’s longtime Executive Chef, Emmanuel “Manny” Psomas, wrote the recipe for this traditional Greek Salad on a paper tablecloth in the middle of the bustling restaurant Hellas.
Hella’s Restaurant and Bakery is a mainstay in historic Tarpon Springs on Dodecanese Boulevard along the working sponge docks.
It’s late December, and lines stretch out the door of the bakery — employees take orders in clipboards as people wait.
Psomas wrote the recipe down after we lit cheese on fire and tasted the salad that’s on all the tables at Greek restaurants in Greece.
Psomas and his family are from the Greek Islands.
He began working at Bellas in the early 1990s and travels to Greece every year.
This way, he grows his culinary legacy in keeping with the traditions of Greece.
Horiátiki
Greek Salad
(serves 2)
Ingredients
2 vine ripe tomatoes
½ red onion
½ seedless cucumber
6 Kalamata olives
4 pepperoncini
½ bell pepper
4 oz. barrel-aged feta
2 tbsp. capers, soaked in olive oil (optional)
Method
Combine all ingredients except feta and toss.
Add feta to top salad.
