ML - Vegas Magazine

2013 - Issue 6 - October

Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.

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ON THE TOWN Costas Spiliadis reigns over a burgeoning Greek restaurant empire, with five locations in three countries. continued from page 80 CS: No! Mission in the process of being accomplished. BS: [Laughs] There you go! Always evolving, right? CS: Always evolving—never take it for granted. AS: I know. I have the same philosophy with my business, shows. You could be here today and gone tomorrow. But all you can do is keep the quality high and have good staff and make sure the customers have the best experience. Tonight, Spiliadis and his staff have prepared a multicourse tasting menu that includes his Milos Special (fried zucchini and eggplant), a mushroom trio served with a pepper trio, Pacific calamari, lobster salad, langoustines, carabineros (Spanish royal red shrimp), and a whole milokopi fish baked in sea salt. CS: Did I miss anything? BS: [Laughs] No. I think you got everything we were going to order. AS: What was your first signature dish? CS: Milos Special. AS: Is that a family recipe? CS: Well, the way [people] typically fry the eggplant and zucchini, it's different. So it absorbs quite a bit of oil. It's tasty if it's done properly, but I find it's too oily and too salty. So I came up with a method of frying the zucchini and the eggplant which prevents the oil from penetrating. So it's crispy, but it's not oily. AS: It's light. It's crispy. BS: It's crunchy. AS: Do you flash-fry it? CS: When I was doing that [dish], I had this memory of the way I was doing my kite [as a child]. I'm talking about over 55 years ago. We used to make our own glue, to fold the paper to make the kite, which was flour and water. So I took this idea and applied it to create a coat around the eggplant and zucchini to prevent the oil from penetrating. AS: It's amazing how you applied a childhood thing to that. CS: The word "simplicity" has been so misunderstood. The example that comes to my mind is the Parthenon. The most simple architectural piece. And for thousands and thousands of years, people have come to admire it. Because there is a science, an exactness. It can take either a few seconds more or a few seconds less to either over- or undercook something. So what seems simple in our food is difficult to produce. I'm sure in your profession it's similar—you're enjoying a song but you don't know what went into that song. AS: It's almost identical—parallel worlds…. When you first come here, you have the hostess with a sparkle in her eyes welcoming you with a smile. In the show world, it's the maître d'. It's the same type of thing: the choreography of the waiters, the coursing, the timing, and then the slate of food. V 82 LEFT: The Milos Special: fried zucchini and eggplant. BELOW: Bri Steck is the COO of Night School 4 Girls, teaching would-be showgirls "how to shimmy and shake like a pro." "The word 'simplicity' has been so misunderstood." —COSTAS SPILIADIS VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 080-082_V_ST_OnTheTown_Oct13.indd 82 9/18/13 1:12 PM

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