John Krontiras

John Krontiras (born c. 1938 in Patras, Greece) is the owner of Nabeel's Café & Market in Homewood, which he and his wife, Ottavia, purchased in 1993.

Krontiras grew up in Greece and served in the Greek Air Force before moving to Washington D.C. around 1960. He came to Birmingham in 1972 to head the information technology department at EBSCO. While there he traveled the world on business and often took down notes about things that impressed him at restaurants. An amateur chef, he had learned Greek cooking from his parents and grandparents and Italian cuisine from his mother-in-law.

After winning a wrongful termination suit against EBSCO, Krontiras purchased Nabeel's and began implementing changes based on his own cooking and his collected notes. He passed the business to his son, Anthony in 2001, but still spends most of his days at Nabeel's.

In 2012 Krontiras completed a cookbook, Beloved Family Recipes, with the help of photographer Karim Shamsi-Basha and designer Scott Fuller.

References

• Carlton, Bob (October 3, 2012) "Nabeel's Cafe & Market's John Krontiras releases new cookbook of family recipes." The Birmingham News