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LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 2.15 65 hen you frst walk into Chef Maria's, at 102 Fairfax Ave. in St. Matthews (actu- ally a half-block of, not on, Fairfax), you may think that you have stumbled into a subsidiary of Bargain Supply Co. It has that many refrigerators and freezers. But all of them are flled with foodstufs that Kostandi- nithou Bell (that's Maria to you) has prepared or is about to prepare. Bell is always cooking. Even when she is away on a vacation, she says, she never stops thinking about cooking. If and when she visits other Mediterranean-style groceries or restaurants, it is not just for sustenance, but also to compare their tzatziki sauce or their fre feta to hers. And, as she'll joyfully tell you — referring to herself in the third person, like Bob Dole used to — "Chef Maria's" is always best. She's quite the storyteller. It's a marvel of human enterprise that the woman can talk as much as she does and still get as much work done as would ordinarily a battalion of kitchen help. Not that she is altogether without staf. Her brother Manolis is the gyro commander-in-chief as well as the delivery driver. And her daugh- ter Vidie is also part of the team. IT'S ALL GREEK TO HER By Mary Welp Illustration by Carrie Neumayer W But it's Bell who cooks, cooks, cooks all day and most of the night long. She says she even dances while she cooks, and this is not at all hard to picture. She's the sort of sweet-sassy woman who would be considered a character in any part of the world, no doubt even in her hometown on the island of Crete. And she likes to spread the love. She got her U.S. start in Radclif, Kentucky, then spent many years traveling the state, opening restau- rants here and there, much of the time just making and transporting her food to various festivals and farmers' markets, until fnally landing at her Fairfax Avenue spot in 2013. But here is what's unique about Chef Maria's: It's a place you can turn to whether you are a serious cook, do not cook at all, or are somewhere in between. Bell even teaches cooking classes (every Mon- day night at 6:30). She will guide you in the making of pastitsio or moussaka or spanakopita or dolma- dakia. Soup, salad, dessert. All of it! On the other hand, if you are one of those people who read cookery columns or watch Food Network only to decide what you want to have served to you next, well, Bell's got all of that covered for you too, be you meatball maniac, falafel fanatic or vegan vatic. Her deli, however, is not a restau- rant. Tere are no dining tables. So it helps to know a bit in advance about what is on ofer (check out the online menu). While it might make your mouth water, it does not in any way measure up to the giant brown-paper menus hanging on the walls around the front counter, the quantity of dishes they contain, or the chuckles they may elicit. Example: "My Famous Baklava. Big Piece $4." Now back to that tzatziki sauce. Tere really is nothing like Chef Maria's. Ever since my big fat Greek college boyfriend (who was neither big, nor fat, nor even, technically, Greek, but Cypriot), I have been devoted to tzatziki sauce, traditional- ly made with some blend of strained yogurt, cucumbers, salt, olive oil, lemon juice and herbs. I make it. I buy it in restaurants. I eat it on toast in the morning. Yet none that I've ever tasted comes close to Bell's. One secret: hers also contains sour cream and vinegar. And you know what I always say about vinegar: Any dish that is already delicious will be even better with a bit of vinegar. But there's also something whippy, slightly fufy, about this tzatziki, almost as if air is being injected into it even as it sits in its container in your refrigerator. You will get addicted. Go check it out. You no longer have to wait for your once-per-year Greek-food fx at the St. Michael's Orthodox Festival. Tis one tiny half-building (that you could very well miss without your Google Maps app) houses all of that food. And then some. Only it's better. Just ask Chef Maria. dine in WITH Mary Welp Bowled over by a Mediterranean maestro.