Women in Food and Drink Awards nominee and Culinary Excellence Award finalist, Christina Konstantopoulou, Executive Chef at Radisson Red Hotel, shares why customisation beats fixed menus and why meeting the chef directly matters.
Hi Christina! Tell us about your career journey and what brought you to where you are now.
I’m half Greek, half French, so food was always part of my background. I started working in kitchens at university and fell in love with it immediately. I started in Greece working in Michelin-starred restaurants and five-star hotel resorts, then moved to Lyon for a year. When my daughter opted to study law in the UK, we came here and I stayed. I worked through Lever Hulme, Doubletree, and Crowne Plaza, and eventually came to Radisson Red, and have been in Liverpool for over 10 years now.
What kind of cuisine do you specialise in?
I try to bring cosmopolitan flavours that are inspired by dining experiences from across the globe but I’ve also gained a love and understanding of UK cuisine. Mediterranean and British cooking are very different, so I travelled all around and visited the Orkney Islands, Wales, and small villages up and down the British Isles looking for traditional recipes.
If you respect your job as a chef, you need to understand the country you’re in. What I admire in chefs is when they don’t overdo it – getting overly elaborate with smoke and foam and things like that – but they respect the ingredients. You can create fine dining with simple, humble produce. The most expensive broccoli in the world means nothing if you don’t know how to cook it well.
How does the executive chef role in hotels differ from restaurants?
Working in a hotel, you’re covering everything – restaurant service, events, and banqueting.
My forte is events and banqueting with everything organised in advance. With restaurant service, you can save mistakes. In banqueting, you can’t! If you make a mistake, it’s going to be a big one. I’ve done events for up to 1,500 people, so organisation is everything. You need to start the cooking process at least a week in advance for large events and staff need to be on top of every aspect such as equipment and freezer space. You also need a team that knows how to deal with service at that scale.
How do you approach putting together a great menu for a corporate event?
Many hotels will say ‘here’s a menu, this is the price, deal with it’ but I don’t do that. I have menus in place, so people know what to expect and understand pricing, but after that I sit down and speak with them about their needs.
If I have to redesign a menu, I will, as I prefer someone to leave happy, saying ‘the food was what we wanted, you made our day special’. Every event I do is different and designing a menu is often a collaborative process.
My Menu
Starters
- Rabbit pâté en croute, cornichons, Dijon mustard.
- Scottish smoked salmon, pickled cucumber, dill crème fraîche.
- Goat’s cheese mousse, heritage beetroot, candied walnuts (V).
Main courses
- Herb-crusted lamb loin, parsley and garlic oil, courgette and fennel, dauphinoise potatoes, jus.
- Pan-seared swordfish, hollandaise sauce, Mediterranean vegetables, caper and kale salad.
- Beef Wellington, truffle mash, seasonal vegetables, red wine jus.
- Wild mushroom Wellington, celeriac purée (V).
Desserts
- Sticky toffee pudding, toffee sauce, vanilla ice cream.
- Deconstructed Eton mess, berries, Chantilly cream.
- Lemon posset, shortbread, fresh berries.
The most important thing is engaging with the customer directly. When I’m there speaking with them, we have a much greater chance of securing the booking. They come for the venue; they know what to expect but don’t know what to expect with the food. If you present that, adjust and design a plate in front of them, they’re very happy.
The real challenge right now is pricing volatility. Clients are booking now for events next year and prices can go up very quickly. You make a deal and in three months everything is different. That’s my biggest problem.
Are there any corporate event trends you’re noticing?
The fashion is moving towards sharing platters and more informal formats like food trucks, garden events, and more relaxed gatherings. Corporate clients are asking for more inter-personal engagement rather than strict sit-down meals. I’m also trying to introduce more seafood to Liverpool, which is a big meat-loving city. When I first brought swordfish in, everybody was hesitant, but now you see it everywhere.
For me, it’s about identity. It can sometimes seem like everybody’s copying each other. Anything that comes from my kitchen needs to have a distinct identity.