Green Kitchen

NYC Coronavirus Deaths in Restaurants and Bars: Those We’ve Lost - Eater NY

"The owner of longtime Upper East Side diner Green Kitchen died from complications related to the virus on March 30. Kasimis was working at his restaurant right up until when he got sick in mid-March, his culinary operations manager, Francesco Gaudio, tells Eater. He is survived by his wife and two sons. A Greek immigrant, Kasimis moved to New York City sometime in the 1970s. He owned a few restaurants in the city before he came to settle on Green Kitchen in 1980, a classic neighborhood diner that’s been at the same location on First Avenue and East 77th Street since 1931. A few years ago, he debuted a second outpost of the popular 24/7 diner several blocks north at East 84th Street and Second Avenue. Kasimis was a very hand-on owner, Gaudio says, and he never once considered closing the restaurant during the onset of the crisis. A lot of neighborhood regulars rely on the restaurant and its food, Gaudio says, and Kasimis was a comforting presence. “He treated everybody equally from dishwashers to wait staff to bar staff,” Gaudio says. “He was such a great presence to be around. He was always open to new ideas and never stuck in the past.”" - Tanay Warerkar