Nikos Thomas: A hardcore kid who loves bottarga

One Friday afternoon at Simul, just before the evening service begins, Nikos Thomas, chef patron of the restaurant and culinary consultant of Greek Master Chef for years, sits across from me with his characteristic low profile presence. With plenty of humor, spontaneous, carrying a story that started in Sparta with drums and heavy metal and ended in Athens with spatulas and fine dining. Before he steps into the kitchen for the night’s pass, we talk about the music that shaped him, the choices that brought him here, and how the rhythm of drums finds its place on a plate.

“From a young age I listened to a lot of music, influenced by my brother, although today I do not listen as much as I would like. When I was still living in Sparta, all my friends were kids who listened to heavy metal and punk or were musicians in bands. We were the ones who ordered Kerrang and Rock Sound from the local press agency, as well as vinyl and CDs to be sent to us from Athens.”

“You know, we were the ones who secretly took the bus to come to concerts in Athens. I still remember the first day of October in 1999 when I got on the bus, secretly from my mother, to see Iron Maiden at the Peristeri stadium. I was 15. I still remember that she would not let me go see Rage Against the Machine when I was in high school. We were not speaking for over a year,” he says laughing. “We had exams in literature and I was trying to convince her that nobody really cared about that subject, but unfortunately it did not go my way.”

“At first I tried to learn keyboard but I did not like it at all because it felt too difficult. So I moved to drums and I got hooked. If I remember correctly, my first live show was in 1997, when I was thirteen, playing Guns N Roses, AC DC and similar covers. When I moved to Athens in 2002 we formed a band called Dear Darkstar and started writing our own songs. Do not imagine that I was a technical drummer, but everyone said I had character. The problem was that I did not like studying and I regret that, because next to me I had excellent musicians I could have learned a lot from. From time to time I took lessons with Fotis Benardo and Serafim Giannakopoulos from Planet of Zeus.”

“At that time I was also cooking and there came a moment when I had to decide what to do. Unfortunately I could not combine both. The decision was either to play at night in bouzoukia clubs or to cook, and to tell you the truth it was very difficult. Whether I chose correctly will show over time.”

“Later I stopped completely. The last time I played was two years ago, at an informal memorial for my close friend Dimitris, with whom we started the band.”

“At home I still have drums, but now with two children I have packed them away. I do not want to wake up at 7 in the morning with cymbals and snares.”

Favorite drummer?

“I was blown away when I saw Dave McClain of Machine Head live at Gagarin. Beyond that, definitely Danny Carey of Tool and when I was younger I was obsessed with Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater.”

Do you think drums and music have influenced your aesthetic as a person?

“In my everyday life I was and still am a hardcore kid. I was always wearing shorts and a band T shirt, and I still dress like that. Simplicity and directness are part of my life.”

“At the pass you definitely need rhythm in the kitchen because it is very important. One mistake in rhythm can destroy the whole service. In general they say I am one of the best pass chefs around,” he says laughing. “I do not know if it is because I have had rhythm in me since I was young due to the drums, but it comes out very naturally. Even in large restaurants where I worked with 300 or 400 covers, I always maintained a very good rhythm.”

If the kitchen were a band, what would your role be?

“By nature I do not think I could be the frontman. I am quite shy to stand first under the spotlight. I think I would be somewhere at the back on bass or drums, although to be honest many times I have imagined myself stepping forward like David Gilmour to play the solo of Comfortably Numb.”

Are there musical pieces that match the style of your cooking at Simul?

“Our cooking here is very technical and based on very good raw materials, just like fine dining, but we offer it in a more comfort and approachable way. Based on that logic I would compare it to the metalcore bands that came out at the beginning of the millennium. Bands with very technical musicians who could still play raw and loud. Around that time there were bands like Poison The Well who were selling the whole working class hero concept, with jobs at Starbucks and so on. Watching things like that I decided to get a job at Hooters. I wanted to live it as American as possible,” he says and we both laugh.

What is your opinion about music inside the kitchen?

“I think I have a psychological issue from my first days in kitchens when cooks would put their phones inside gastronorm containers and listen to Greek folk music. Or later when the pass got intense and they would play trance and rave. I could not even stand. So I stopped it in my kitchen. I do not let the team listen to music, even when I am away. If I were to listen to something though, I think it would be hip hop. Continuous rhythm at low volume.”

How much attention do you pay to the music played in the restaurant?

“Here we do not have space for a DJ and we mostly play playlists. Obviously music is part of the overall experience, but we want it to exist as a background layer that accompanies the food. Of course we want it to be something good, avoiding playlists like Summer 2006,” he says and we laugh. “I think we are slightly louder than most restaurants of our style. Sometimes we get comments asking if we can lower the volume, but you cannot satisfy everyone. It is also a matter of taste.”

If you had to create a menu based on a music album you love, which one would it be and how would you translate it to the plate?

“Albums that influenced me a lot are Toxicity by System of a Down, the debut of Limp Bizkit, the first Rage Against the Machine and Californication, but let us take the RATM one. It would be a menu with brutal presentation. Everything in bowls, nothing pretentious, no attempt at styling or decoration. Deep flavor and clean notes in all ingredients.”

What is the most provocative dish you have created?

“I will tell you one I am preparing now for our new menu. It will be veal sweetbread on sushi rice with crayfish custard and wasabi. If I had to mention one we serve now, I would say the tartare with black sesame and smoked eel.”

If you had to cook backstage for a band, which one would it be and what would you prepare?

“I think it would be either for Red Hot Chili Peppers or for Limp Bizkit who are coming now. I do not know what they are really like as people, but they give me the feeling we would have a great time. And I would definitely cook something very simple. Grilled food, street food and things like that. So I can also be relaxed, sit and drink beers. I have been on the inside all my life, let me enjoy sitting down for once.”

What is the most rock ingredient you have worked with?

“In my mind I consider bottarga flavor wise undefined. I love it, I like it very much and it is one of those ingredients I cannot categorize anywhere. It is not random that three Michelin star restaurants in Paris work with it. It is an ingredient you can use from dessert and ice cream to foie gras and filet mignon. For example I currently serve it on beef tongue.”

Is there a song that describes your journey so far?

“Evergreen Terrace, Looks Like We Finally Made It, Chaney Can’t Quite Riff Like Helmet’s Page Hamilton, although I would put a question mark at the end. It is a song I listen to when I feel I have conquered a field. I am quite emotional.”

What was the last concert you attended?

“Terror at the end of November.”

And your favorite?

“I will go back to the Maiden concert at Peristeri stadium, but I will also say the first Hatebreed live I saw at An Club, Converge in 2005 in Athens and Tool in 2006 at Hellinikon.”

If you could remove something from today’s gastronomy, what would it be?

“Instagram. I think it has done a lot of damage to cooks and customers, experts and non experts. I think we have all been consumed by the quick and easy image, myself included. It definitely helps with information but I do not think many people can filter, absorb and transmit it either to their restaurant or to others.”

One last thing. When you cook, do you think about the customer or yourself?

“This change is very important in a cook’s life. You always start with yourself, with your ego thinking you are the best, but in the end our life is given by our customers. Something Spyros Liakos always said, and I respect him a lot, even if you are the best cook in the world, in the best restaurant in the world, with the best ingredients in the world, if the first customer does not walk in, nothing happens.”

The interview ends and Nikos stands up to enter the kitchen. Service begins and the rhythm must be perfect. I follow him with my camera, watching him at the pass without music and without distractions.

Before I leave he confides, “If I could go back, I would tell myself not to quit. To keep playing drums and to study more.”

Photos: Savvas Stanis