George Mavrothalassitis

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George Mavrothalassitis is a chef and restauranteur known as one of the cofounders of Hawaii Regional Cuisine in the early 1990s. Mavrothalassitis is particularly known for exquisite individual pairings of wines with each dish in a multicourse meal.

Mavrothalassitis was born in Provence, and moved to the United States in 1985. In 1988 he came to Hawaii when he was recruited to be the executive chef of La Mer at the Halekulani Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii. From 1995-1998 he was executive chef of the Four Seasons Hotel in Maui, and the chef de cuisine of Seasons Restaurant. In 1998 he opened his own restaurant, named for his nickname, Chef Mavro, in Honolulu.

In 2000, he appeared in the November cover story of Wine Spectator magazine as one of six selected chefs. In October 2002, Gourmet Magazine named his restaurant one of "America's Best Restaurants," the only mention from Hawaii. a In 2003 the James Beard Foundation awarded Mavrothalassitis Best Chef: Northwest/Hawaii.

He has made numerous television appearances such as on CNN, The Food Channel, the PBS series Great Chefs in America, France's Antenne 2, and the Food Network.