Eat Your Way Around the World: Chefs Zoi Mousadakos and Georgios Kastanias, Sparta, Greece

Zoi’s Gyros Corner has been a staple at the corner of Broadway and Caruthers Avenue in Cape Girardeau since Chef Zoi Mousadakos bought the restaurant 27 years ago. Originally from Sparta, Greece, and then from New York, Dexter, Mo., and Marble Hill, Mo., she and her late husband moved to Cape Girardeau when their two sons began attending Southeast Missouri State University in 1994. When their sons graduated and left the area, they stayed.

In the restaurant industry for 40 years, the restaurant features Zoi’s mother Zoula’s recipes. Zoi will soon transition to working part-time at the restaurant, handing it over to her nephew, Chef Georgios Kastanias, who currently is her supplier of Greek products through his company Alexander Foods, named after his son.

“I want to leave with pride. I worked hard, so I want to leave what I started [in its true form],” Mousadakos says. “I have good customers, I can say that. I have good customers. They tell me, ‘I appreciate you.’ It breaks my heart — I appreciate them.”

Georgios Kastanias wraps a gyro in foil before delivering it to a customer at Zoi's Gyros Corner in Cape.Photo by Aaron Eisenhauer

As the grandson of a missionary, Kastanias grew up in Zaire — now the Democratic Republic of the Congo — in Central Africa, eating Greek food with a French influence, as Zaire was a former French colony. He got his start cooking in Athens, Greece, during culinary school, and afterwards, worked in fast-casual and high-end restaurants in Greece, France, Italy, Switzerland and the Middle East. Cooking, he says, has been a “passport” for him.

Seventeen years ago, Kastanias moved to the U.S. and opened restaurants in North Carolina; seven years ago, after his young son told him he wanted to spend more time with him, Kastanias stopped working as a chef. He and his family moved to St. Louis, and he opened his food supply business so he could spend more time with his son. He says while supplying food to Mousadakos at Zoi’s Gyros Corner, he “fell in love with the town” of Cape Girardeau because of the friendliness and hospitality of its people. He told Mousadakos that when she was ready to retire, she should talk with him first about taking over the restaurant.

Kastanias believes in always continuing to learn, no matter how long he has been a chef for. To help students appreciate healthy eating, he teaches cooking classes to children. He also is involved as a mentor with the American Culinary Federation’s Culinary Team USA, a team of chefs who represent the United States in the culinary Olympics every four years. In 2024, they will compete in Germany.

Georgios Kastanias slices gyro meat from the rotating spit in the kitchen at Zoi's Gyros Corner in Cape Girardeau.Photo by Aaron Eisenhauer

Georgios Kastanias slices gyro meat from the rotating spit in the kitchen at Zoi's Gyros Corner in Cape Girardeau.Photo by Aaron Eisenhauer

“Cooking, for me, it’s from the heart,” Kastanias says. “If I am upset or if I am sad or if I’m mad, the food I’m making is not going to come out correct. ... It’s a passion for me. It was a hobby — it was never a job. I never see it as a job.”

Kastanias is excited to bring his memories of roasting lamb on the spit or on a gyro for Greek Orthodox Easter to Cape. He loves the authentic, homemade aspect of the food at Zoi’s and looks forward to continuing the tradition. While leaving most aspects of the restaurant the same, Kastanias plans to expand the menu and hopes to connect with local farmers to source fresh ingredients.

“It’s not fast food — it’s a love and a lot of soul on that plate,” he says.