Georges Athanassopoulos leads the kitchen of Màloma in Rosières, a restaurant named after an old Greek word for fermentation. He grew up in a family that built every conversation around food, and that upbringing shaped his path into professional kitchens. Years in starred restaurants taught him that cooking can express ideas and values, not just serve plates. His menu changes every month with the seasons, built directly from what local producers bring him. This profile traces his training, his philosophy and what membership in the Mastercooks of Belgium means to him.
From a family of food lovers to the kitchen
Georges Athanassopoulos did not always plan to become a chef. His family pushed him toward food from an early age, since they were true food lovers who placed good products at the center of every discussion. His grandparents and parents cooked at home themselves, and they organized large dinners often. They spent entire days in the kitchen, for their children or for friends. Conversations in the family turned around meals, from breakfast to dinner, and around everything shared at the table, from news to special moments in life.
“I fell in love with the craft from within, and I always felt a strong urge to express myself.”, Georges Athanassopoulos
Working in several starred restaurants, he realized cooking could become a real means of expression, a way to share ideas and values.
Learning the craft in Namur and beyond
Georges Athanassopoulos trained at EHPN, the hotel school of Namur, then continued at the Vieusart Academy of Culinary Arts. Working afterward in several starred restaurants gave him a taste for refined cuisine. The chefs and teams he worked alongside taught him self-discipline, drive and curiosity. That constant dynamic of learning pushes him to keep refining his technique and his understanding of the product.
A cuisine built on seasons and fermentation
He describes his cooking as committed, both in creativity and sustainability, in substance and in form. He offers a single menu that changes every month, following available seasonal products. He works directly with local producers through short supply chains, and they offer him what they have without him imposing anything. His approach extends to zero waste, to supporting farmers who make real efforts in how they produce, and to a broader vision of responsible cooking. His plates carry only clear and intense flavors, built from a belief that products of the same season naturally belong together.
“If there is one feature that defines my cuisine, it is fermentation.”, Georges Athanassopoulos
The name Màloma comes from the old Greek term for malolactic, a reference to the fermentation used in certain red wines.
Producers and craftsmen as role models
His first models are the producers he works with every day, since they define his cuisine far more than he does himself.
“Chefs are, in the end, nothing more than interpreters of the work of the earth.”, Georges Athanassopoulos
He also admires Mastercook Jean-Luc Pigneur, for his broad experience in the trade and for long defending the view that producers deserve the same standing as chefs. He recognizes himself deeply in that vision, where the chef’s main role is to reveal the quality of the product. His admiration reaches beyond the kitchen, toward anyone who practices a craft with the precision of a goldsmith, whether a cook, a potter, an engineer or another artisan.
Joining the Mastercooks of Belgium
Membership carries a double recognition for Georges Athanassopoulos. On one side, he joins the most important association of chefs in Belgium, one that highlights producers and craftsmen, the people he places at the center of his work. On the other side, he receives recognition from the trade itself. His ambition is to push his ecological approach further, and to explore how a restaurant can become as environmentally friendly as possible. Joining such an association, he says, also means committing collectively to that direction.
