Diane Kochilas
🇬🇷 Greece · Greek cuisine · b. 1960
The chef and food historian who has done more than anyone to document modern Greek cuisine in English.
Biography
Diane Kochilas is a Greek-American chef, food writer and television host who has spent 30+ years documenting and championing Greek cuisine in English. Born to Greek immigrants in New York and based for much of her career on the island of Ikaria — one of the world's five Blue Zones — she has written more than 20 cookbooks and presents the long-running PBS series 'My Greek Table.'
Her work has been particularly important in distinguishing the regional cuisines of Greece (Cretan, Ikarian, Macedonian, Pontic, Asia Minor refugee cuisine) and in bringing serious academic attention to Greek food history — particularly the link between the Mediterranean diet and the longevity of Ikaria.
She also runs cooking schools on Ikaria and consults on Greek menus internationally.
Cooking Philosophy
Greek food is the original Mediterranean diet, and its regional traditions are far richer than the gyros-and-feta stereotype. Kochilas's work treats Greek cuisine as a series of distinct regional traditions — island, mountain, refugee, monastic — each worth documenting on its own terms.
Restaurants
- Ikarian Cooking SchoolIkaria, Greece
Cooking school on the longevity Blue Zone island.
Awards & Recognition
- IACP Cookbook Award (multiple nominations)
- James Beard Award nominee
- Daytime Emmy nominee (My Greek Table)
Iconic Dishes
Cookbooks
- The Glorious Foods of Greece
- Ikaria: Lessons on Food, Life, and Longevity from the Greek Island Where People Forget to Die
- The Greek Vegetarian Cookbook
Signature Recipes Inspired by Diane
Original recipes we created as homages to Diane's cooking style and signature dishes. Not direct reproductions of any copyrighted material — these are our interpretations of the traditions Diane has worked with throughout their career.
Recipes in Diane's Style
These recipes from our database reflect the greek cooking tradition that Diane works in. They are not direct reproductions of Diane's copyrighted recipes, but traditional dishes inspired by the same culinary heritage.
Career Timeline
Returns to Greece from New York; begins documenting regional Greek cuisines island by island.
Publishes 'The Food and Wine of Greece,' her first major cookbook.
Publishes 'The Glorious Foods of Greece,' a regional reference work that becomes a standard text.
Founds the Glorious Greek Kitchen cooking school on Ikaria, her family's ancestral island.
Publishes 'Ikaria: Lessons on Food, Life, and Longevity,' tying Ikarian diet to the Blue Zones research.
'My Greek Table' debuts on PBS — becomes one of the longest-running Mediterranean cookery shows on US public TV.
Awarded a Daytime Emmy nomination for 'My Greek Table.'
Frequently Asked Questions about Diane Kochilas
What are the Blue Zones?
The Blue Zones are five regions in the world identified by demographer Dan Buettner where people live notably longer than average — Ikaria (Greece), Sardinia, Okinawa, Nicoya (Costa Rica) and Loma Linda (California). Diane Kochilas has done extensive work on Ikarian food traditions and their link to longevity.
What is the Ikarian diet?
The Ikarian diet is the traditional food pattern of the Greek island of Ikaria — heavily plant-based, built around wild greens (horta), legumes (especially black-eyed peas and chickpeas), whole grains, herbal teas, olive oil, small amounts of goat and sheep dairy, and very little meat. Kochilas's documentation of these traditions has been central to making the Ikarian diet known internationally as one of the world's longest-lived food cultures.
Does Diane Kochilas run a cooking school?
Yes — Kochilas runs an annual cooking school on Ikaria called the Glorious Greek Kitchen, where small groups of international visitors spend a week learning regional Greek dishes, foraging for wild greens, harvesting and cooking with island residents. It is one of the most established culinary travel programmes in Greece.
What is Asia Minor refugee cuisine?
Asia Minor refugee cuisine refers to the food traditions brought to Greece by ethnic Greeks expelled from Turkey during the 1923 population exchange following the Greco-Turkish war. Kochilas has documented this cuisine extensively — dishes from Smyrna, Constantinople, Pontus and Cappadocia that became part of modern mainland Greek cooking but retain their distinct Anatolian roots.
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