Food Network regular and first female Iron Chef Cat Cora brought her unique Mediterranean style cuisine to OLILO, a restaurant located in Russell House’s newly renovated dining area. Cora spent Tuesday morning in Russell House, unveiling the new restaurant and meeting students at a book signing.
Cora’s passion to create dishes that are both flavorful and guilt-free has been evident from the start of her career. Her love for the Mediterranean cuisine is rooted in her Greek-American background. Even though Cora is from Mississippi and loves Southern food, her meals growing up usually included lean meat, fresh fruits, veggies and extra virgin olive oil that are staples of a Mediterranean diet.
“When a lot of kids were having fried okra on my block, we were having steamed artichokes with lemon and great Greek olive oil,” Cora said. “So that really began my love of the Mediterranean cuisine, and I really brought that up to the forefront of my career and started really talking about health and wellness.”
Ultimately, Cora’s desire to share the rich cuisine of the Mediterranean at an affordable cost and casual setting led her to college campuses and other locations in need of healthy options.
“One of the things that really was important to me was to go to places where people are held hostage, if you will – airports, stadiums, college campuses, other places where you know people really have limited choices – and I wanted to really change the landscape of America,” Cora said.
Cora’s commitment to nutrition and flavor is seen in OLILO’s diverse and customizable menu. The menu includes a quinoa and salad base, the choice of falafel, chicken or salmon as the protein and numerous toppings and sauces for extra flavor.
“You’re going to get this amazing bowl of great flavor and a lot of bold flavors that really wake up the palate and excite you as a foodie,” Cora said.
One of Cora’s main goals is to provide students with a meal that will sustain them throughout long days of classes or late nights of studying. Cora mentioned that fast food options are great every once and a while but lack the hearty nutrients that will give students the energy they need for a fast-paced lifestyle.
“So I think this is a great option for the students to get not only delicious food, but something that’s really good for you,” Cora said.
Dalvin Armstrong, an English student and an avid fan of the Food Network, was eager to get his free copy of “Cat Cora’s Classics with a Twist” personally signed by Cora herself.
“Having her here actually shows the importance of how much she cares for the students of course and her restaurant itself. I hope to share this with my peers as well as anyone that's interested in cooking as well,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong recently began focusing on healthy recipes and is excited to try out Cora’s recipes for dinner parties and potlucks.
Cora offered advice and resources for cooking at home, too. She recommended shopping locally and seasonally to ensure the ingredients are fresh and more cost-friendly. Cora has a wide variety of recipes on her website, www.catcora.com, and in her recipe book that include easy-to-find ingredients and simple cooking methods.
“Our kids cook them, that’s how easy my recipes are,” Cora said.
Cora wishes OLILO was an option while she was at school, but now she’s able to share her passion for health and wellness to college students across the country.
“It was really, literally the freshman 15 and junk food when I went to college, so for me this is something that I really wanted to put on college campuses and throughout the country to show people that you can have delicious, amazing food,” Cora said.