Chef profile: Anton Counters

Agree, it is not fair that everyone knows about good restaurants, but only a few know about the chefs who cook there and create the menu. We at The Fashion Vibes decided to fix this situation and created the section “Chef Profile”, where we will introduce you to the main chefs not only in Moscow, but throughout Russia.

This time we are talking with Anton Counterchikov, the chef of the Grecco restaurant in St. Petersburg. By the way, today our hero has worked only on projects in the Northern capital. He studied under Matteo Lai at Jamie’s, and then worked as a chef under Antonio Fresa at Marso Polo and Fresa’s. And now Anton is in charge of the kitchen of Mark Lapin’s Mediterranean project.

But before examining the other achievements of the chef, we suggest you find the most interesting details of his biography in our material.

Let’s get started, shall we?

Anton Counters.

34 years.

Grecco.

It all started when I was studying to be a teacher of Russian language and literature, but I had no ambition for it. But I was ready to cook professionally in the kitchen of a big restaurant. So I passed the test and went to St. Petersburg and somehow everything started to work out.

I really enjoy cooking meat. Plus big slices of bistecca, bone-in entrecôte or a side of lamb. Oh, and probably risotto. Good al dente and crema – as the Italians say.

The most delicious dishes are my mother’s, because I often watched her cooking. Well, if we consider world cuisines, then, of course, Russian. Because no matter how much I love Italian or Greek cuisine, there is nothing more delicious than borscht with lard and black bread or homemade cutlets with mashed potatoes. Our local and high-quality products can be the envy of any kitchen in the world.

I don’t have such dishes. But I don’t like cleaning fish.

The first thing that comes to mind is a memory from childhood. At my grandmother’s I first tried dry-cured pork tenderloin – it was prepared using the same technology as prosciutto. It was then that it became a discovery for me.

Every day something ridiculous happens in the kitchen. The creativity and imagination of chefs would make most engineers jealous. I don’t remember anything specific, but every day something happens in the kitchen that you will remember for years to come.

I grew up in a small town in the mountains of the Murmansk region, and in my childhood my father and I often went mushroom picking. Since childhood, the most delicious dish for me is fried potatoes with freshly picked boletus mushrooms. Potatoes baked in the oven on coals.

The biggest misconception is that chefs who don’t sit at the stove for 12 hours have a lot of free time. On the contrary, for a chef, work is 24/7. And you still have to be at the stove.

Red pepper flakes. Especially if you forget to wash your hands and rub your eyes. I think every chef knows that feeling.

I get the most pleasure from completing some difficult tasks. Especially in a time when deadlines are tight and everything is on edge. And of course, I love my team and the guys we work with.

They say I cook great lasagna.

It’s about a house in the woods, by the lake. And I live in such a way that I don’t have an answer to this question.