Harry Kambolis (born June 30, 1968) is a restaurateur and entrepreneur who owns and operates five independent restaurants in Vancouver, Raincity Grill (est. 1992), C Restaurant (est. 1997) and three separate Nu Greek locations (est. 2005).
In the early 1990s, Kambolis built relationships with local farmers and producers of quality ingredients and served and promoted what later became known as Pacific Northwest cuisine. He also supported British Columbian wines, a burgeoning industry at the time, long before it was in vogue. By offering wines only from B.C. and the American Northwest, and by having a formidable "wines by the glass" program, Kambolis developed a successful business model that later was emulated.
The opening of C Restaurant, in 1997, created another opportunity for Kambolis to demonstrate his commitment to regional bounty. The restaurant's mandate was to look beyond the typically homogenized selection of seafood available on menus around the world. Kambolis, in tandem with his chefs Soren Fakstorp and Robert Clark, sourced and introduced about 60 local varieties of the highest quality seafoods, all of which were locally harvested. C Restaurant is credited with introducing and popularizing several B.C. seafoods (some back from extinction, some unfamiliar to the market), including geoduck, sablefish, pink salmon, and B.C. abalone.
To date, there are three Nu Greek locations, with the first opening in 2005 in False Creek. Nu Broadway (opened October 2011), Nu Robson (opened September 2011), and Nu Gastown (opened April 2012) are best known for their mouth watering souvlaki. With your choice of five different meats or a vegetarian option, each souvlaki is made on a fresh pita which is made in-house. At the Gastown location, you are given a choice of 4 pita favors every day. Aside from souvlaki, the menu includes cold meat pita wraps, various salads and dips, and fresh baked goods such as baklava and honey bacon scones.
Kambolis is the co-author, with Chef Robert Clark, of the cookbook "C Food". He also publishes an e-newsletter titled Ethical Luxury, which features people, fashion, food and lifestyle that are committed to quality, luxury, and sustainability. He is also the partner in Greenscape Capital Group (TSX-V: GRN), a strategic capital, eco-friendly company.
Famous quotes containing the word harry:
“Why don’t you go home to your wife? I’ll tell you what. I’ll go home to your wife and outside of the improvements, you’ll never know the difference. Pull over to the side of the road there and let me see your marriage license.”
—S.J. Perelman, U.S. screenwriter, Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, and Norman Z. McLeod. Groucho Marx, Horsefeathers, a wisecrack made to Huxley College’s outgoing president (1932)