Paul Delios

Paul Delios’ talent for preparing Italian and Greek food has made him well known in Boston and beyond. His self-taught techniques result from a life in the restaurant and food service industry, but his ingenuity and passion for recreating age-old recipes comes from his family’s deep-rooted relationship with food. Lucky for his patrons, his passion translates into something tantalizing for their palates.

It’s no stretch to say Delios’ college education was received in restaurants. Since age 4, Delios has been in one kitchen or another, whether owned by his family like Tony’s Spa and Mrs. Foster’s and Kane’s — three well-known Boston-metro eateries — or his own Rosamarina’s Catering, started in 1990, Paolo’s Trattoria, opened in 1999, and in 2003 a group of investors backed Paul to open MEZE ESTATORIO, a contemporary Greek restaurant.

Delios in three years brought Meze up to become Boston’s premiere Greek restaurant, most notably for its dedication for offering contemporary upscale takes on traditional Greek Cuisine. Meze and Paolo’s menus have been praised in national media like Wine Spectator and La Cucina Italiana, Yankee magazine's travel guide and on Epicurious.com. Regional press includes Boston Magazine, The Improper Bostonian, the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe. In 2004 and 2005, Stuff At Night magazine even named Delios one of Boston's "most powerful night-time influences."

Delios’ heritage and his intimate knowledge of Greece and other Mediterranean tastes helps him soften the lines of where Greek cooking begins and ends, bringing new life and awareness to the mother of all European cuisines. His recipes are culled from his mother's kitchen. And after cooking them for 40 years, he's perfected his own whimsical approach, with the fusion of contemporary techniques and old-world Greek flavors to which his patrons have become accustomed.

"My cooking reflects my childhood,” says Delios. “Growing up in a Greek family in a predominantly Italian neighborhood, I was exposed to great home-cooked food. As an adult, and as an avid traveler, I have experienced the foods of Greece, Italy and beyond, and I have a deep respect for the cultures that I have been fortunate enough to live in, through these food experiences I have created my own cuisine. “My gift to people is what I cook. And my food comes from the heart; it is the best way I can show people I care about them. It may sound cliché, but every diner was part of my family when they walked into one of my restaurants."

Delios’ accolades run deep: On February 10, 2006 Paul was a featured chef the James Beard House, where he received a standing ovation for his culinary wizardry, October 2005 Guest chef at Epcot International’s Food & Wine Festival in Orlando, Fla., May 2005 Invited by sponsor Plate magazine, appeared in Chicago at Marshall Field’s for a round-table discussion and demonstration about today’s contemporary Greek cuisine.

In 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 he was and is a featured chef on Culinary Entertainment Group's Simon Malls "Super Chef's Live!" tour along with Food Networks Guy Fieri star of Guy’s Big Bite as well as “Mary Ann Esposito, host of PBS’ "Ciao Italia" and Jacques Pepin of "Jacques Pepin, Fast Food My Way." He cooked beside chef Martin Yan. He has also participated in regional programming like the Fairmont Copley’s 10th annual Celebrity Chef’s event. In 2003 he was asked to cook at New York’s Italian Culinary Institute.

Restaurant reviewers have called Delios' sauces "heavenly," his desserts "delectable," and his cooking style "like the comfort food Mom would make," the kind "you just want to bury your face in."

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