Alexandros Porfyris.

To Alexandros Porfyris, head chef at Ultima Corfu, food is about so much more than satisfying a hunger. It's about crafting culinary moments woven with surprise and delight for his guests. So much so, he's moved people through his sheer dedication to acknowledge their tastes and has been known to spend days studying them leading up to their arrival. Porfyris first became a head chef when he was 25 years old, training from country to country alongside Michelin chefs. Now, at Ultima Collection, he feels as though he's come into his own by working for a company with as high as standards as him. He has become synonymous with a stay at Ultima Corfu, bringing guests back year upon year for his unfaltering service and commitment to an unforgettable time.

Mr. Porfyris applies all functional skills and is following procedures. Acquiring and sharing knowledge, strengthening skills and capabilities, encouraging innovation makes Mr. Porfyris passionate about his expertise. Mr. Porfyris has a vast understanding of clients' needs and expectations and is always providing a warm and attractive atmosphere, treats every guest as unique and adds a personal touch to genuine services. Due to his exemplary and extremely competent conduct, he was equally well-liked by our guests, his superiors as well as his colleagues. Mr. Porfyris is leaving our company upon completion of his seasonal contract. We thank him for the valuable time spent working with us and wish him every success in his next endeavours, both professional and private. We look forward to welcome Mr. Porfyris on one of our ships again next season.

Each meal with Private chef, Chef Alexandros Porfyris, was better than the last. For one thing, each meal always consisted of the freshest ingredients sourced locally, and Chef Alex took pains to please with his skill and careful thought of each guest when creating his menus. As he discovered more about our personal tastes and preferences with each meal, he incorporated the things he was learning about us into the following meal. Like the evening he included elements from each of our home countries throughout the menu, or the simple things like having our favorite coffee ready to go as soon as we padded into the kitchen with the sleep still in our eyes.

“The art of cooking is a clear and justified act of passion when one books a table at a restaurant and is in anticipation of what feelings or what the chef is willing to share through his food. But it's no less important or valuable when that food is shared around a table with family or friends. Rather, it's a raw expression of togetherness. It's the most archaic way of bringing people together; around a fire, at beaches or in meadows - whilst fueling bodies and conversations. I truly want to remind chefs that we have a great responsibility in representing and most importantly, in keeping individual and cultural tradition, through recipes that the rest of the world should know and, should never forget. It is a very important and heavy responsibility that should be carried out with pride but also with respect. To chefs and people from all over the world; uniting and bringing the whole world together through food in the hopes of realizing that we all have much more in common than we think. This way we will only advance and become better to achieve greater things. For example Fusion cuisine, why is it so popular? It’s popular because it blends with respect two different cultures. Cultures fuse, that is how tradition is formed, from one family to the next.

My vision is to be able to say that I played a role in sharing and representing Greek food on a global scale and bringing forth Greek Gastronomy where it belongs, together with respected Chefs and businesses. I strongly believe that we should look back, back at older ways of how nature was utilized ethically and with respect to the environment. Because of consumerism and mass production, we lost our strongest power, the power of producing our own. All whilst disrespecting nature, having fruits and vegetables all year round. We should go back to respecting the grower much more and involving them, much more. Creating strong relationships with local suppliers. We should re-establish a culture of using what's naturally ripe now and use what's in accordance to the seasons - giving more credit to individuals, that they too can grow great foods. I believe if we do that, we will again be in control of what we grow, what we use and what we put into our bodies because right now, the majority do have not a clue. Naturally, once individuals are more aware of eating with the seasons, there will develop much more pride in what their own country produces and what their country uniquely offers.”