Ilias Pappas
CEO & Founder
Founder of Athenian Hospitality and Hellenic Kitchen. Raised in Lamia, Greece, he built his career on great food and heartfelt service — and the Greek spirit of philoxenia.
Our story
Real Greek yeero, made the honest way.
Spit-roasted all day, shaved to order, and built on recipes brought straight from Greece. This is who we are.
Hello, we're Hellenic Kitchen
A taste of Athens in Lexington.
Hellenic Kitchen started with a simple idea: bring the real Greek yeero — the kind you'd find on a busy Athens street corner — to the middle of Manhattan, with nothing watered down.
Every morning we stack the spit and let it turn low and slow, marinate our proteins overnight, bake pita fresh, and make our dips and sauces by hand. No shortcuts, no day-old anything.
Whether you build a bowl, wrap a pita, or grab a plate to share, you're getting food made the way our families have made it for generations. Pull up a chair. Opa.
In our kitchen
Fire, patience and a little Greek soul.
The spit is the heart of everything. We stack it high, set it turning, and let the flame do the slow work — crisp edges, tender center, shaved to order right in front of you.
Around it, the rest comes together by hand: pita pressed and griddled fresh, dips whipped that morning, vegetables roasted until they caramelize. Nothing sits, nothing waits.
It's the way it's done back home — unhurried, honest, and built on the belief that good food is worth the extra few minutes.
Our team
The people behind the project.
Brian Drew
VP of Growth
35+ years in business development across collegiate hospitality, business dining and sports & entertainment. Passionate about the student-athlete experience.
Greg S. Collins
Chief Financial Officer
A UK Master of Accountancy graduate with years in public accounting and hospitality tax. He focuses on process automation and data-driven operational insight.
Kostas Pappas
Chief Technical Officer
Leads technology strategy, platforms and digital operations — focused on practical systems that simplify operations and create better experiences for staff and guests.